Mystery of the Great World Anomaly
by BlazeSilvermageVIII
Summary: There are two individuals who have been helping America all these years, they've always been at his side since day one. No one knows who they are. When a series of suspicious events lead to a catastrophe, the nations will have to solve the mystery surrounding the two people and the other strange individuals and occurences in America if they want to set things right.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! This is a plot bunny that I just had to write, but it won't interfere with my other story. I had this on my mind for quite a while, and I hope I did it alright. Just a heads up: this fic will get dark later on, with some twists too, it's a big mystery like the title says! Now, on with the show!**

The United States of America, also know as the amazing Alfred F. Jones, was slowly walking on the creaking wooden floorboards on a long, long pier towards a nice small lighthouse. His usually clear sky-blue eyes were a little unfocused as if he was in deep thought and covered by messy blonde hair. It was getting pretty dark; the sun was setting, and the sky was a red and orange hue and the air was as just humid as you'd expect in an island.

He nonchalantly glanced behind his shoulder, he got a brief flash of a memory where he was kneeling on the beach with his hands clasped together while the small body of a suffocated girl lied before him, and he shook his head.

America sighed as put his hands in the pockets his good ol' bomber jacket, and continued walking through the pier, refusing to let recent events dampen his mood further. That's why he came to a quiet and peaceful part of his country, somewhere where no one could ever guess someone like him would go, somewhere where he could be at peace and get his usual spark back. That's why he came to Roanoke Island.

He liked Roanoke Island, it was nice and cool, while one might say that the place was small and boring he thinks of it as one of his favorite places to visit. His home away from home, well one of his homes away from home. Especially for getaways from… well, just about everything.

But it wasn't just the peacefulness he liked, it was a spot where he and the two most important people in his life liked to get together for an awesome time. Lately they've all been spending more and more time together, not that he minded he would never turn down a chance to see them, and the two of them are doing everything they can to cheer him up. They always know just how to put a grin on his face again.

Those two… he smiled fondly. Just how would he have survived and not go cuckoo for cocoa puffs like Russia if they weren't there for him? He couldn't. There's no way in fucking hell he would have done it without them, they're the Robin to his Batman. Because just like Batman needed Robin, he needed them, and they gladly put up with him for years, they believed in him. They always did.

They've always been at his side, they've been helping him more ways than one and more times than he can count, they've been helping him since day one. And no other nation has a clue that they exist. You think Canada wasn't noticed? The two of them are proud they've been sneaking around for centuries with no second glances directed at them.

What did he do to deserve people like them? To care about him all these years and never abandon him despite the ugly shit he did back in the day.

Speak of the Devil, Alfred felt relief and happiness when he spotted a familiar looking guy leaning over the rails outside of the simple Marshes lighthouse, his face was distant and deep in thought as he looked at the horizon as the sun started to set. The guy's cool that way. He always looked like he had something big on his mind, America once asked him what's he thinking, and all he got was smile and a cryptic sentence.

Again, he's cool that way. In fact, in America's opinion he was the coolest guy ever. The greatest superhero ever to exist, tough and kind, putting others before himself, the guy has it all even though he doesn't want to think of himself that way.

The guy hasn't changed a bit since America last saw him, he still looked pretty darn good. Looking like he's in his late twenties, the man's dark brown hair was still tousled and a little messy, his light complexion and sharp facial features looked the same as ever.

Thin brown eyes softened when the man glanced and saw America approach him. He smiled warmly, and America responded with a tired one and he went over to the rails next to him. There was a moment of friendly silence before America spoke up and they went into a warm conversation.

He always thought of the guy like a father, England wasn't his father, even though America cared about him the brit could never be like a father to him. The guy was awesome. He was smart, kind, clever, awesome. He was infallible in America's eyes.

He was lucky he could have him around, although he hoped one day he'll be able to go back.

America smiled at the man then began to walk away, waving him goodbye and then stopped for a moment to look at the sunset. He then went to exit the lighthouse and went onto the long wooden pier. When he looked up from the floor and to the distance he widened his eyes slightly at who was standing in the isle of the path with a scowl on her face.

Her.

A young girl, looking no older than 10 or 11, stood with her cute eyes directed at him with some indecipherable emotion in them. Her long waist-length pitch-black hair blew beautifully in the wind and the bright light in her stormy grey eyes seemed be missing, but it made her look menacing to anyone else. She was wearing some loose and baggy clothes that made her look smaller than she is.

Judging from this you would think she looked adorable. Well… she is, but…

Don't judge a book by its cover.

She may be a little cutie, but there was something unsettling about her, it's hard to pinpoint how or what but that's how she is. To anyone else they would feel something dark, threatening, unfriendly, **_mysterious_**. She's not someone you want to mess with. She's got ways of making you suffer.

But…

To America, this little glaring mysterious looking girl was one of the greatest people in the world to him. She loved to him to death, and America returned the sentiment.

The girl stood unmoving with her eyes stuck on America, looking almost angry, and with her fists clenched. America remained staring at her, blinking, and he felt a little confused why she was just standing there doing nothing. Was she waiting for him to say something? Did she _want_ him to say something?

Well he isn't going to, he knew what's on her mind and he's not going to hear it.

He loves her, but he didn't agree with her.

America put on a serious face and continued walking through the pier, focusing on the island instead of the pissed off little girl, and he went. It was strange silence, almost tense, even though there wasn't any apparent danger. The only things that could be heard were the waves, the gentle breeze, and the creaking floorboards that America stepped on. The girl tensed, and she looked at him with a face full of determination and anger.

As he got closer, her eyes followed him, he could feel her annoyance that he wasn't looking at her. Time slowed down as America arrived next to her and walked on, again not paying her any mind. The girl widened her eyes in shock as he walked right past her, as if she didn't expect that to happen, as if the very action was an unspeakable sin. Then time went back to normal and the girl whirled around to see America walking away. From her.

She was still in a state of shock from that, she blinked a few times before reaching out her hand towards the shrinking form of America, as if he'll somehow turn around to go grab it. But he never did. The girl looked at the sky, then at America again and remained staring at him with intent. Meanwhile, the man saw the entire thing, and he frowned at the girl.

"I know what you're thinking, Gigi, stop it this instant. He came here so we could help him." The man scolded lightly, crossing his arms.

The girl didn't respond for a few seconds, then slowly turned to face the man, glaring at him with venom. "That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to stop all this, stop his suffering. If anything, _you're_ not helping him enough."

The man narrowed his eyes in disapproval. "I am helping him, I help him every time he needs it. It pains me to see him like this just as much as it pains you. I am doing everything I can in helping him with his depre-"

"I'm not talking about the depression, old man." The girl cut him off rudely, and she smiled nastily. "Although I do appreciate your efforts in that. I'm talking about helping end the sad state of the nation by getting rid of the roots of the problems. We need to make this country great again, as people are starting to say."

"Gigi, no." The man growled, and the girl nearly flinched at the rare appearance of him raising his voice at her. "That won't make everything alright. Think of the consequences your actions could create, it could deteriorate the situation further."

"I know that." The girl snapped, gritting her teeth. "But it's a start, no?"

"This country has been through much worse times, Gigi, you should know because we were there. You also wanted to do the same thing then, but you didn't, and everything turned out alright in the end. These years will help show the people a lesson, there have been some good things in the past months."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Gigi…" The man sighed in exasperation, and once again tried to reason with her. "I don't want you to do something you'll later regret."

The girl gave the man a disturbing smile. " _Oh_ , trust me, I won't."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You won't do it, or you won't regret it?"

The only response he received were giggles, and the man covered his face with his arm as the breeze became strong so that he wouldn't get something in his eyes, all the while the girl continued giggling. When the winds became calm again, he lowered his arm, and the girl was gone. The man widened his eyes in surprise before narrowing them in a glare.

He'll have to keep an eye on her. Despite America's beliefs, she has no qualms resorting to extreme measures.

/ / / / / /

 _Three years later…_

It was that time of the month again, it's time for yet ANOTHER World Meeting with absolutely no progress being made. This time it was America's turn to host, however, due to an incident last meeting when Prussia stupidly decided to recruit Hong Kong to help him make an "awesome display to show how awesome the awesome Prussia is" and ended up burning down the entire building by accident.

Needless to say, Prussia pissed off a lot of people.

And so, the meeting will have to be held in America's house, much to the chagrin of several nations who did not want to spend almost an entire day in the star-spangled nation's house. But said nation kept insisting that they'll have a great time.

America was working his butt off to prepare for the meeting, despite popular opinion, he does work hard when it's his turn to host. But having such a massive house, it required a lot of work, so his two pals were there to help him out.

The girl huffed angrily as she dusted the drapes, then coughed a bit and waved her hands as the dust got up in her face, she puffed her cheeks angrily when she heard chuckling and turned around to see the man smiling at her as he set down papers onto the meeting table. "Be careful with the drapes, Gigi, they don't like being treated roughly." The man joked harmlessly.

The girl scowled at him and kicked an imaginary rock, then proceeded to try to wipe the dust off her dress, to little success. "Bleh!"

"Now, now, I was just teasing you a little, Gigi." The man tried to calm her.

"It's still not funny…" The girl muttered, and she nearly teared up as she looked at her dress. "And I really liked this dress, too…"

"You'll be able to put it on again tomorrow when it's washed well."

"Yeah, yeah, alright…"

As the girl went back to what she was doing, the man felt a bit of concern for his little friend's strangely quiet behavior. He set the stack of papers down and went over to the young girl, midly startling her when he rested his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, Gigi?"

The girl froze for a second then glanced at the man with a tired expression. "…No. I'm not."

"Is it about the meeting?" The man guessed.

"Are there any other possibilities for my bad mood today?" The girl whispered, almost dejectedly more than angrily.

The man's lips formed into a small smile, and he chuckled a little. "Well, it's the most obvious one, no? You've been so quiet and upset ever since the day started."

"If it's so obvious then why'd you ask?" The girl asked as she played with her messy bangs. "Seems kind of redundant to me."

"It can never hurt to confirm, can't it?"

"Whatever."

"Gigi…"

"Why do they have to come here?!" The girl suddenly demanded, shaking in anger and disgust, and even gagged. "Those… Those… AGH! I can't stand them! It's enough that they've corrupted him but now they have to fill this house…" She gestures frantically all over the room. "This house… this wonderful and beautiful house that the three of us live in peace and happiness… with their miserable selves! Why…. WHY?!"

The man became alarmed at the appearance of the girl's unstable self. "Do not call them that, Ginny, and don't blame them for every terrible thing that has happened in this land. That makes you no better than-"

"Why can't they go somewhere else?! Somewhere far from here!" The girl screamed desperately, and she went to grab fistfuls of her hair and pull them. "Why can't any of Alfred's fools for presidents isolate this land again? Things were fantastic back then!"

"I wouldn't say that it was fant-"

"Oh, don't you dare start." The girl hissed, glaring at him. "Because if I remember correctly, YOU were the one who said it should be that way, or is your brain starting to rot too?!"

"Yes, I did say that, I know that well." The man nodded. "However-"

"The entire world is starting to rot!" The girl wailed, and her knees started to buckle. "I can't believe this! We're-"

"GIGI!" The man shouted, having enough of seeing her like that, her mind seemed to be getting more and more ill. This is yet another reason why he must keep an eye on her.

The girl flinched at the man raising his voice at her and felt a bit of guilt when he saw her hurt and guilty face, she let go of her hair which had many loose strands out of her already messy braid and hugged herself. "I'm sorry." she said quietly.

"Gigi…" The man sighed but smiled as he brushed some of the bangs hiding the girl's face off. "It is a World Meeting, it's a very important event in politics and before you interrupt me by saying how they never get anything done in those meetings, while that may be true… that does not make it any less important."

"Well, it should." The girl spats.

The man resisted the urge the sigh again and he tried again. "It is part of his duty as a nation. Every single one of them must go and represent the land they personify. But not every single meeting is bad, we've witnessed some bizarre but entertaining actions that the nations do, haven't we?"

The girl's mouth twitched, and the man saw he was starting to win her over. "I guess we did. It's very funny seeing them make fools of themselves and see the vein in Germany's forehead come close to exploding."

"And you know how excited Alfred gets when it's his turn to host. He always strives to please." The man reminded her, a fond smile on his face.

The girl couldn't help but crack a smile as well. "Yeah, he always wants to put on a good show for anyone, no matter who they are, he wants it to be something they'll never ever be able to bury in their minds. For better or worse."

"So you can see how much this means to him?"

"No."

The man frowned slightly at her response. "Gigi, at least-"

"I don't want to hear it, G." The girl cut him off, scowling. "Tell Alfred I'll be out back if he needs me. I want to go somewhere where I won't hear all the yelling."

And before he could even try to stop her, she turned around and stomped her way out of the room. After she slammed the door shut, the man sighed. "How have we lived together this long without her strangling me death?"

"Fucking! Shit dammit!" The man almost flinched when Tony burst into the room, the little alien running around the man in circles as it panicked and flailed its arms around. "Limey bastard alert! Limey bastard alert! Limey bastard alert! This is not a drill!"

They're here.

/ / / / / /

Prussia grumbled as he paced around the room angrily and cursing the unawesome idiots that did this to him. He couldn't believe this! How could they be so unawesome as to do this to the awesome Prussia?! What? Just because he accidentally but awesomely blew up the UN building, he's suddenly treated like an unawesome criminal? Or worse, an unawesome virus?

Just because the building couldn't take his awesomeness?

"Well, then I hate you too, West." Prussia mumbled.

Because the unawesome him cannot be trusted, he must remain locked in an unawesome room with nothing to do. Seriously, there was like just a dozen bookcases, a table and some chairs. How unawesome is that?

But despite the unawesomeness of the situation, the awesome Prussia will not give up that easily. He will find a way to escape and have his awesome revenge!

He just needed to find a way how. Oh! He will do it the old fashioned awesome way! Through an air vent! If it worked in America's movies, then it should work for the awesome Prussia.

Snickering his signature laugh, he rubbed his hands evilly as a plan began to form in his awesome mind. Yes, he'll show his brother that his awesomeness can't be contained, he'll steal Hungary's frying pan and use them break Austria's glasses.

Kesesesesese! If only his Gilbird were here, then they would-

"Oh dear, I do hope you're not forming a plan to destroy the world." An unknown voice said amusedly.

Prussia laughed, not realizing there was a complete stranger in the room. "Don't be ridiculous, the awesome me would never do that! The world needs my awesomeness! If I did that then who will be alive to bask in my awesomeness?"

"Really? Because you looked rather... evil back there." The man remarked, waiting for the ex-nation to realize his presence.

"Evil? Nein, I looked awesome!"

"So you think looking evil is awesome?"

"Nein, I said I was being awesome!"

"So looking like you're planning the world's demise is awesome to you? Well, I guess we all have our tastes..."

"What? Nein, I was planning my awesome reve..." Prussia trailed off as he did a double take, he blinked, and whirled around to come face to face with a man smiling at him. "WAIT A MINUTE! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

The man only continued smiling amiably, not at all affected by Prussia's outburst, and then adjusted his glasses. "Oh, I apologize for scaring you-"

"The awesome me was not scared!"

"But I thought you looked very happy in your in thoughts." The man continued, smile growing slightly. "But then I thought it wouldn't be polite if I hid my presence for no reason, so please forgive me. I did not mean any harm." The man apologized, and Prussia had to feel a little (a little!) impressed at how polite and nice guy looking this man was. Unlike Austria, this man did not have an air of pompous gentlemanly unawesomeness, and for that this guy has scored some points from the awesome Prussia.

Prussia slowly started to form a smirk and he snickered. "Kesesese! No need to worry, since you look like you have somewhat decent awesomeness the awesome me forgives you!"

"Thank you…?" The man said rather uncertainly, the guy must be shocked that he got such a compliment from the awesome Prussia himself. "I am flattered that you think I am… "awesome", sir."

"You should be! It's not everyday that the awesome me calls someone else awesome!" Prussia cackled, while the man chuckled along, the ex-nation then remembered something. "Hey, what are you doing in Am… Alfred's house, anyway? You work for him?"

The looked thoughtful at this and shook his head. "Not… Technically, but I do like helping him in various things whenever he needs it. Alfred and I are close."

"So close that he lets you crash in his house?"

"Actually, I also live in this house, Mr. Prussia."

Prussia blinked several times, trying to make sure he did hear right and hoping it's not just him, then exclaimed in shock. "Wait, how do you know who the awesome me is? WAIT! I-I mean Prussia? Y-You mean the awesome former country of Prussia?" He laughed nervously, while mentally kicking himself for his unawesome slip up. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Mr. Prussia…"

"I-I mean the awesome me is honored to be associated with such an awesome country b-but why would you call me that?"

"Mr. Prussia…"

"Is it a compliment? If so, then you just got moved up the list of awesome people to the top ten!"

"Mr. Prussia!" The man tried again, raising his voice, and the ex-nation anxiously looked at him. "No need to be alarmed, Mr. Prussia, I am well aware of the existence of personifications of countries. I know about you, Alfred, your brother and everyone."

"You do?" Prussia asked incredulously.

"Yes, he shared that secret with me many years ago."

"What? Why would the kid do that? Who are you?"

"My name is George Dandridge, it is nice to meet you, Gilbert Beilschmidt."

/ / / / / /

Egypt tried his best to not let the scream fest consisting of Greece and Turkey next to him give him a migraine, and instead focusing on renting a car big enough to contain him, a fighting Greece and Turkey, and a nervous Cyprus trying to calm them down. Though he had a feeling it won't be easy, and that he's going to be paying a lot of money later. He sighed as they waited for the bus they needed to take.

Was it him, or does all the noise make time go slower?

He took a moment to glance at Greece and Turkey, then at poor Cyprus, then the street again. Those two were surprisingly not creating not that much of a fuss, only getting some stares and a few annoyed looks, Egypt wondered if it's because the sight of two grown men fighting is a common occurrence here.

At least it was just a few stares. Last time they made a child cry.

America was frighteningly angry when that happened, though for good reason, Egypt would feel anger if a nation made one his child citizens cry.

Egypt took a deep breath and blew out the air slowly. Hopefully the bus will arrive in a few minutes in time before things get ugly. He looked around, there wasn't much to look at except some advertisements, seeing some cars drive by and the people wait impatiently for their ride to show up.

But one sight did catch his attention.

There was a young girl, most likely in her prepubescent years, in the distance slowly walking to where he was. Her skin had a fair or pale complexion and she had stormy grey eyes. Her black hair looked to be about waist length with very wild, messy bangs framing her face while her hair looks to be worn down, but as she got closer Egypt noted that it was in a big and thick braid. She seemed to be looking straight at something.

Her choice of clothing was a little… odd, a little juvenile looking but perhaps a bit too Western for him. It consisted of a very loose powder blue top with a frilled neck segment with a bright pink-purple bow, and it was all held together by a white belt. At the top on the sleeve sides are pink cloth segments. The top almost looked like pair of overalls. On each sleeve is a peach and white line, while the sleeves cuff buttons to the upper segment of sleeve, most likely to keep them from being too long. She also wears an uneven length white skirt piece that looks longer in back and light blue boots.

Was she getting ready for bedtime?

However, none of the humans seemed to be staring at her for her strange choice of clothes, so was it some sort of costume that is popular here?

What's more puzzling is the fact that the girl seemed to be by herself. She wasn't walking with any adult that could be her parents or anyone else for that matter, so Egypt had to wonder if the girl was lost or got separated from her family. But that didn't seem to be plausible. She didn't look scared, confused or anxious like any normal child would be.

She had a serious expression, unconcerned and not seeming to be paying any attention to her surroundings.

That was very odd, but a part of him felt… unnerved, for some reason.

The girl was now a few feet from him, and getting closer, but she did not spare a glance at him or at any of his fellow nations. Either ignoring them or just not noticing them. Egypt continued staring at her, while also considering if he should approach her, and she got closer.

The girl still didn't look at him, but then she walked right past him, and when she did time slowed down. Egypt saw her unreadable face pass next to him, her braid flying in the wind, and when she took another step he felt it.

Egypt suddenly found himself unable to breath, he widened his eyes as the world… Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, the humans, everything froze in place and turned grey. He tried to gasp for air, but he also couldn't move, he only saw the girl slowly taking another step, only to stop.

She slowly turned her head around, and when her silver eyes met Egypt's he heard a roar, and and the silver turned blood red. He suddenly found himself in a room engulfed in flames, the girl stood smiling widely before him dressed in puritan clothing and in front of a burning crucifix. The girl's eyes still glowed maliciously red and there was blood spattered across her face and dress.

The girl remained grinning at him until she spread her arms and he gasped as the world went back to normal again. He was back in the real world. Everyone returned to color and everything began moving again as if it never happened.

But Egypt remained standing there, in complete shock, and he quickly turned around to find that the girl was already several feet away.

He remained staring at her for a few more seconds until he shook his head and went back to his companions, only to hear squeaking when he felt he stepped on something. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the ground and nearly had a heart attack.

On the ground beneath his foot was a doll the size of an infant that looked identical to himself, it looked cute, but the fact that he suddenly found it like this was frightening. After somewhat recovering from his shock he noticed there was a piece of paper taped to the doll. He crouched down and carefully lifted the doll up, taking off the paper and he saw there was something written there.

 _Do you like it? I spent a whole day making it just for you~ Think of it as a welcome gift!_

 _I'm really excited for when we meet face to face! You know, I think you look better when you have more emotion in your face!_

 _See you later!_

 _P.S. Turn the paper around. There's a surprise~_

Reluctantly doing so, he saw a juvenile drawing of him and the girl holding hands and smiling, but the innocent childlike appearance was made disturbing when he saw that the background was smeared with red marker and saw about four or five stick people on the ground with "x" in their eyes. He noticed that there was a messy drawing of a figure on the back stabbing a man in a suit and that the drawing of Egypt was holding what looked like a machete.

The baffling and disturbing feelings of the situation caused the color from Egypt's face to drain, and he nearly dropped the two things he was holding. Unsure what to do, he looked up and much to his surprise he saw Cyprus talking with the girl.

He widened his eyes and briefly looked behind him to see that Greece and Turkey were still fighting, then back at Cyprus smiling at the girl, who cutely smiled in return.

Curious, he put the doll and paper away and made his way towards them, feeling suspicion at the girl. As he arrived next to Cyprus, the latter noticed him and smiled at him. "Oh, Gupta, sorry for leaving but I saw this girl all by herself…"

"It's alright, Cyprus." Egypt said, then looked at the girl, who was staring at him curiously. The childlike innocence and curiosity that emanated from her made it even more difficult for Egypt to believe he just saw her as a deranged puritan girl a minute ago, if he really saw that in the first place. "Is she lost?"

"She says she's not, but I don't see her parents anywhere…" Cyprus said worriedly, then looked at the girl again. "When was the last time you saw your mother or father, little one?"

The girl only blinked and smiled gently. "I already told you that I didn't come here with my parents, silly! And I'm not lost, I'm completely fine!"

This answer only served to baffle the two nations, Cyprus stared at the girl confusedly. "Wh-What do you mean? Children your age shouldn't be out by themselves, it's not safe, are you sure you're not lost?"

"Yes, sir!" The girl nodded her head happily, not seeing what's wrong.

"You're not here with your parents?"

"Nope, sir!" The girl shook her head.

"Nor with any legal adult?"

"Nope, sir!"

"Are you saying that you came all the way here without adult supervision? To an airport? Somehow all by yourself?" Egypt asked slowly and reluctantly, despite how implausible it sounded he had a feeling that was the case.

Cyprus looked at him in shock while the girl only beamed. "Yup, that's what I did, mister!"

"B-B-But how did you… No… why would you come here all by yourself? Are you sure that there isn't supposed to be a grown-up with you?" Cyprus demanded, looking more horrified than confused.

"Yup, just me!" The girl clapped her hands together, and then began to look around at the crowds of people. "I'm here because I'm waiting for someone, but he's not here yet."

"Who exactly are you waiting for?" Egypt asked.

The girl only giggled. "It's a secret!"

Cyprus sighed while Egypt could only raise an eyebrow. Are children supposed to be this confusing? This girl, who may or may not be in the possession of dark powers not known to Egypt, made the doll copy of Egypt and drew a disturbing colorful drawing for him as a "welcome gift", was now happily saying she came here all by herself to wait for someone who she's not allowed to reveal?

Cyprus scratched the back of his head and leaned down to the girl's level. "Will you at least tell us what your name is?"

"Well…" The girl looked thoughtful, almost in contemplation, then smiled mysteriously. "I like to be called Gigi."

 **Well, that's that! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Try to see if you can figure out who the two friends _really_ are. They're not states by the way. I hope I won't make their identities obvious. Please review! Give me your thoughts of this first chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiya, it's Blaze finally with the second chapter of this story! Wow, it's been like three months since I posted this. I'm very sorry for the wait, stress got in the way, but I'm better now and here it is! And before we begin I want to annouce that I put up a poll on my profile about which of my ideas I should work on, so please vote if you can. Now, on with the show!**

George smiled amusedly at the continuous but fun rambles of his jovial new friend, Prussia, as the albino threw books at the door in hopes of somehow breaking it down (or perhaps to annoy the people outside to the point they'll agree to let him go) while George calmly picked them up and put them back in their rightful place. Many would get angered by the disorder, but centuries of living with Gigi helped him get virtually limitless patience.

Misplacement and rough treatment of books aside, he found Prussia to be a jolly fellow to be around with, he definitely understood why America was fond of him. George, along with a likely jealous Gigi, had observed those two with Denmark in their "awesome trio" activities. He must admit, their antics were quite priceless.

Even Gigi burst out shrieking in giggles at many of them, and for a few hours forgot about the anger tainting her soul, for a brief time, her heart was cleansed of the darkness polluting it. Especially when… It was just nice to see her like that. America felt the same, America always wanted her to just be at peace. But Gigi didn't know what the word meant half the time, she doesn't even keep America's feelings into mind half the time as well…

Gigi still hasn't spoken to him since she stormed off in, no offense to her, rather childish anger to some unknown location. Ever since Tony's announcement of the nations' arrival, George went off to the room where he could relax, the room he was in right now. America told him that Prussia would be there, he kept apologizing for that, but George held up his hand.

He had no reason to be angered. Besides, George supposed Prussia could use some company.

As for Gigi, her current whereabouts were unknown, and that made George a little anxious. He admitted that the Gigi problem slipped his mind when he was told of Prussia, now George wished he knew what she was doing. Of course, America could look after her, but the poor boy believes too much in her even though the recent tension between the two. Gigi wasn't above…

The sound of a large book, probably a dictionary, slamming against the door snapped George out of his worries and he jumped a bit. He adjusted his glasses. Anyway, back on Prussia…

Prussia may have what many (if not all) might consider a "world-sized" ego, but he made up for that with quite the amusing personality and relentless determination.

George was also grateful to Prussia for helping train the at the time younger America during his Revolution, for teaching him everything the boy needed to know about surviving and fighting in the war, what George could not teach him. Although there were times when George felt that Prussia sometimes got a little carried away during the training.

George considered himself a good fighter, not to brag, though Gigi and America always tell him he doesn't give himself enough credit, but he felt that…

Ah, he mustn't dwell on those memories, nothing good comes from dwelling on what ifs or should haves. Not to mention it would be rude if he stopped paying to his friend's amusing comments and rants because of times long gone by.

"…And that is why it's totally not my fault! HA!" Prussia finished crowing and cackled for several seconds before it slowly turned into a frustrated scream and threw yet another book. "Agh! THIS IS SO UNAWESOME! Why couldn't those losers lock me up in a more awesome room?! Like a room full of beer!"

"I believe they call it "punishment", Mr. Prussia." George chimed in with a slightly amused tone as he picked up the books.

"I know what it is, Awesome Specs. But they should know better than to do this to the Awesome Prussia!" Prussia exclaimed indignantly, fuming at the rectangular piece of mahogany wood blocking his path to freedom. "This crime will not go unpunished!"

"I am sure it won't." George said with a smile.

"Danke, Awesome Specs." Prussia snickered, then when he suddenly smirked at the door, George could have sworn he saw a light bulb flash over Prussia's head. "In fact, I have now come up with an awesome plan to escape this hellhole and have my revenge!"

"Is that so? Care to share any details?" George requested with a nervous smile, feeling that he should be worried, but tried to hide it. "It isn't anything dangerous, is it?"

Prussia only burst into cackles. "Dangerous? HA! The awesome me is grateful for your concern, but don't underestimate my awesomeness! Watch as the awesome me charges with full strength to tear that unawesome door off!"

George's eyes went wide with that declaration and he tried to dissuade him. "O-Oh, is that really the best solution, Mr. Prussia? Perhaps there is another way that won't involve damaging any of the properties in this house. Not to mention that Alfred-"

But his words fell on deaf ears, and Prussia screamed in what could only be a battle cry as charged towards the door. George could only look on in dismay. Oh, how this will end badly. America despised items in the house getting damaged, (both due to money and obsession with cleanliness) and he was confident that this will end with Gigi screeching "I told you so!" in his ear for six hours straight.

He saw the speeding Prussia reach the door…

Only for the door to open just as he did, resulting in Prussia rushing past a confused America and the sound of a crash being heard a few seconds later, missing his target and getting himself injured. Concerned, George quickly went over to America and saw Prussia face down on the floor moaning in pain. A small yellow bird flew over him and perched on his head.

Both sweat dropped at the sight. Well, George smiled sheepishly, it could have been worse.

George cleared his throat and faced America with a gentle smile. "I apologize for that, Alfred. Now, how have the nations been doing?"

America stared at Prussia a bit more before blinking and looking at George with an anxious smile. "Oh, hey, G. The others… well, they actually seem like to like it here. They're impressed how tidy the place is."

"Excellent, I am happy to hear that. If I may ask, what brings you to this room?"

"Oh, well, it's that little guy there." Alfred grinned and gestured towards the bird perched on Prussia. "I kinda felt bad for leaving Gil in such a boring place for him, so I called up Gilbird to help keep him company, but I so did not see THAT coming."

"Ah, I see." George nodded and looked again at the still moaning and unconscious Prussia. "He's a fun fellow."

"Yeah, you're telling me." America chuckled, then seemed to realize something as his smile vanished. "By the way, I need to ask you something, G and I swear I'll lose it if you don't know."

Thrown off by the sudden serious demeanor, George frowned in worry. "What's wrong?"

"Where's Gigi? I can't find her anywhere."

George felt himself freeze solid, he tried not to show his rising feelings of panic, but it appeared that he couldn't because America suddenly became pale and he gaped in horror. Well, any loving parent or older sibling would be horrified to learn that their child or younger sibling had vanished without a trace, but in their case… with someone like Gigi…

A missing Gigi never spelled good news.

Gigi may be… disobedient in several cases, but it is because she was still a child at heart whether she accepted it or not, and George had learned that it was better for Gigi to wander off on her own as little as possible. He did not doubt her power, far from it, but her activities tend to raise eyebrows. Normally, she had a rather or _very_ unorthodox method for multitasking, it normally ended well enough…

For one end. Or to put it in another way… Half of one allowed everyone to have a _happy_ ending while the other had a tendency to be… _dark_.

"G… dude." America called him slowly and carefully, laughing nervously as he began to grip his own hair. "Please tell me that she's not missing..."

"I…" George trailed off, took a deep breath, then exhaled as he nodded with a distressed expression. "I'm afraid so, my boy. I haven't the slightest idea to where she might be but-"

"Oh… crapcrapcrapcrap…" America buried his face in his hands and began pacing around before George could even try to calm him. "Well, we'll find her somehow!"

At this George immediately came up with a place to where she could be. "Do you wish for me to check Salem?"

"No way, Georgie, I'm not letting you bite the dust in that place."

"I have experience, Alfred. I have managed to decrypt many of the secrets surrounding that place."

"Well, as the hero I gotta go with you to keep you safe and sound."

"No, my boy." George shook his head and rested a hand on one of America's shoulders, making sure to have his most firm expression. "You must investigate with Tony's assistance, his technology will surely help us with finding Gigi, I will venture into Salem alone. And before you can even begin to protest-"

The music of "America, fuck yeah" (pardon his language) cut George from speaking. America flushed a little and quickly took out his phone from his pockets. "Sorry, G, it's the CIA."

The CIA? How strange. What would they want?

His question soon spawned even more questions as he watched the color drain from America's face, and George felt immediate concern over the implications. No, Gigi would never stoop to that level, she _hated_ terrorists. She always claimed that it was "for the people" too. But was it even an attack?

Well, whatever it was, he hoped it wouldn't require-

"George… pops…" America's hands trembled. "There's a problem."

/ / / / /

Egypt inwardly frowned at the young girl, now dubbed "Gigi", walking slowly on the edge of the sidewalk with her arms spread out. It was the usual "try to walk without tripping or falling" game, with Gigi nearly falling on her back several times only to regain her balance and laugh it off. It was simultaneously an adorable and worrying sight, but Egypt was leaning more towards worry, but because of other reasons.

Cyprus may have accepted, albeit hesitantly, the girl's nonsensical story about coming all the way the airport by herself, but Egypt's was not buying it. Especially after the brief strange, as well as slightly unnerving, occurrence regarding her.

Assuming this girl was even a her, let alone human.

For a while Egypt had been observing this girl like he observed everyone, waiting for another strange event to happen, but the only strange event that happened was the girl twirling around quietly singing songs from Disney musicals.

Egypt was not an easy man to fool, he had garnered wisdom from the long and harsh years he had been through in his nation's history, he inherited an impressive wisdom regarding magic. Ans observing people from afar granted him a good knowledge of other people as well, so he should know or at least come up with a theory regarding this, no?

But all he could see was a ditzy but innocent young girl.

Gigi started to lose her balance on her way back, she regained it a little, only to lose it again quickly and began to panic as she slowly started to fall backwards. Egypt widened his eyes and without much thinking he reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her back.

Gigi let out a sigh of relief and smiled up at Egypt. "Phew, thank you, mister. I really got scared."

"Well, perhaps you shouldn't play such risky games." Egypt said flatly and let go of her wrist, not meeting her gaze.

"But it's fun~" Gigi chirped and span around.

"That's no excuse."

"Well, then you can help so I won't fall, mister!"

Egypt gave no response to that and kept averting his gaze even as Gigi tried to get his attention. Greece and Turkey were still having their spat with Cyprus trying to calm them, Egypt should probably go to get them all a car instead of talking with suspicious children, but he was not going to let a possible threat run amok because of him.

He patted the bag he had, where the plush doll of him and the… drawing, and then he finally looked at Gigi, who was now oddly staring at him. It wasn't the neutral expression he saw on her before, but it looked similar, she looked curious. Gigi even puffed her cheeks like a chipmunk and crossed her arms, she looked like she was trying to figure out the pieces of a puzzle, and then she stood on her toes to scrutinize him.

Feeling enough confused and frustrated already, he decided to ask. "What are you doing?"

"You kinda remind me of someone, mister, you look a lot like him." Gigi narrowed her eyes childishly and tapped her foot, then suddenly, she beamed. "He's one of my friends, weird guy, I haven't seen him in a while though…"

"I do?" Egypt asked, now curious.

"Yup! He's all mysterious and cool like you!" Gigi said happily, and Egypt raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but he listened. "But still so weird. You look like him, but he's a lot _happier_ than you, he's so _funny_!"

"Happier?" Egypt repeated, he knew he was not one for smiles, but something about that seemed…

"Uh-huh, he loves smiling, but don't feel bad, mister. Sometimes people don't like smiling." Gigi clasped her hands together with a sad smile, the way she had her hands was eerily reminiscent to that vision Egypt had.

Egypt nodded. "That is true, I'm afraid."

Gigi nodded as well, and her hands started to tremble a little, and her smile started to look sadder. "I have another friend like him too, but he's happier and funnier, no one can beat him. He's my big brother. He'd smile even if he was sad, but he's super scary when he's mad, sometimes I even get scared…"

"Does he hurt you when he's like this?" Egypt asked, and Gigi shook her head.

"Nope, he never hurts me. But I get scared that... that…" Gigi swallowed and looked away. "That I'll make him mad, he'll leave me, and hurt me even if didn't mean for something bad to happen to him and stuff…"

Egypt hesitated, he wasn't good at comfort, and he had no idea why she was telling him this.

"I…" Gigi sniffed a little, and Egypt quickly realized that she was crying, and she wiped the tears. "There's nothing **_I_** can do. **_I'm_** completely powerless, I'll just… go with the plan and hope for the best, I'll do what I'm told. I'm a good girl… right?"

"I… what?" This conversation suddenly got more confusing.

"You… don't think I'm a bad girl, do you?" Gigi asked desperately, looking up at him with tears beginning to fall. "I'm doing the right thing… I have to. I'm not evil. I'm not! I promise!"

"What are you talking about?"

"So you don't think I'm a bad girl?" Gigi said hopefully, her eyes begging him to tell her that.

"You…" How does he answer this? He doesn't know anything about her. Egypt took a deep breath. "I don't think so."

Gigi immediately calmed down at this reassurance and began to smile. "Thanks, mister. Oh, I just remembered something about the friend that looked like you. He really likes deserts and pyramids and that sorta stuff!"

Immediate recovery aside, Egypt raised an eyebrow at that. He knew he shouldn't expect great geography and cultural knowledge from an eleven-year-old, but was this girl just assuming he was from Egypt?

"Really?" Egypt could only ask.

"Yeah! And another thing…" Gigi grinned and put her hands behind her back. "He loves his mom a lot! Always wanting to make her happy and stuff, but he's mad because he can't be with her, he always wishes to see her again one day. You're like him in that regard."

Egypt froze at that remark. No, no. There was no possible way she could know _that_ bit of personal information. There was no way. Enough was enough. He was going to find out who and what this girl is right now. His hand reached out and snatched up her wrist, ignoring her yelp he began to forcefully pull her away.

"W-Wait!" Gigi cried out in fear. "What are you doing?!"

"A place where you won't hurt anyone." Egypt told her coldly.

Just as she was about to object, Egypt continued pulling her away, but then he stopped in his tracks at the sound of a gunshot. The humans in the area shouted and murmured in alarm. Egypt heard Gigi gasp and whirled around to see the cause, and he widened his eyes in shock. Gigi whimpered, and used his shock as a chance to wrench out of his grip, but much to Egypt's surprise she hid behind him.

"No… no… no…" Gigi muttered again and again in fear.

Egypt stared back at her in confusion then back at what was in front of him. Before him, in the streets, was one of those jeeps the American military have. There were two visible passengers, both of which… looked rather suspicious. One of them were standing out of the roof when his MK5 pointing at the sky, while the other stood in front of the vehicle with his weapon ready, as if analyzing the crowd.

Although, in Egypt's opinion, it looked like that soldier was looking at him or even… he felt Gigi shake in terror behind him still muttering incomprehensibly. Egypt felt a bead of sweat fall down his forehead as he looked back at the soldiers again.

It wasn't that he feared being around America's military personnel, but he had seen how those soldiers are insane in the battlefield, not to mention he felt… _targeted_.

The both of them looked rather unusual too. For example, Egypt couldn't see their faces, they were wearing masks and goggles, the one in the vehicle had a helmet with goggles that also covered his face and the one outside had some sort of gas mask. They wore a lot body armor as well.

The one who presumably was the one who made the gunshot chuckled, his voice sounded young but with a dry throat and a voice modulator, very dry. "Hey… Nemesis… Look what we have here…"

Nemesis? Said soldier, who Egypt just noticed was rather tall, said nothing and only gripped his firearm tighter.

The first soldier then looked around, apparently just noticing that he created a lot of attention, then sighed. "Nothing to see here, people. Just making sure my MK5 works, and don't worry, just here for a security check. Move along, nothing's going to explode. I repeat, _move along_."

He said that last part more forcefully, and the humans seem to have caught the hint and went back to their business, with some parents steering their staring children away and other people murmuring. The soldier seemed pleased with this, then set his sights on Egypt, who suddenly felt a chill.

The soldier climbed out of the car then jumped to the ground, giving Nemesis a nod, they both began to approach Egypt. Egypt, meanwhile, had decided to remain in place. There was no point in backing away, it would make him look suspicious, and he would endure whatever scrutinizing he needed to go through.

"Gupta!" Egypt widened his eyes and saw his three fellow nations rushing towards him, Cyprus looked at the two soldiers nervously. "C-Can we help you?"

Greece rubbed his sleepy eyes and stared blankly at the two approaching soldiers, but then did a double take and gaped in horror, backing away. "Y-YOU?!"

"Me." The soldier agreed, almost amused, nodding.

Turkey looked at the terrified Greece with confusion. "Why are you pissing your pants all of a sudden, olive breath?"

"You don't understand! Those two… him!" Greece kept exclaiming, pointing at the nameless soldier frantically. "I know him! He shouldn't be here! He should be at least ninety years old by now!"

"Hey, people can live past ninety, you know." The nameless soldier teased, crossing his arms, and Egypt had a feeling he was smirking behind that mask.

"Well, you should be retired!"

"Do you know this soldier, G… Heracles?" Cyprus asked, almost slipping up.

"360 and I don't have time to go down memory lane, we just want to make some things clear to all of you. But first, introductions..." The soldier pointed at each of them, then at himself. "I'm part of a highly-classified unit of the proud American military, that's all you need to know, and that's what you'll always know. I… am Maverick, and this is my partner, Nemesis."

Nemesis grunted and nodded in a supposed greeting.

"You can't be Maverick!" Greece exclaimed. "You're too-"

"Young? Athletic?" Maverick cut him off, then scoffed. "Who knows? Maybe I am him, maybe I'm another guy who took up his name, maybe I'm his son, who knows? It doesn't matter, I am who I am, and I'm determined to be anything but a faker."

Greece opened his mouth to object again, but 360 made a growling sound, and he shut his mouth.

"Hey!" Turkey shouted. "Who the hell do you-"

" _Quiet_." Maverick hissed, which combined with the dry sound of his voice, was enough to make Egypt cringe. "Damn keeping good relations, people who don't respect the values of this land… won't have any respect from me, so don't crawl away whining to America."

Egypt widened his eyes. "You-"

"Yeah, _I know_. Now, back to business…" Maverick cracked his knuckles, then crossed his arms again. "There's a threat to United States of America among you that's been causing us trouble in the past few weeks. It's to the point where we're called to go out in public, but it's for the nation. So, in other words, you'll be seeing us and our brothers a lot. Understand?"

"Understand?" Turkey repeated, annoyed and angry. "I don't understand a damn word you're saying! Can't you be less vague or something?!"

"Fine. Here's the drill…" Maverick snarled, not any happier than Turkey was. "You're suspects, to me at least. Don't break the law, don't harm a single human here unless they're criminals, and if you or anyone else harm a single hair on our nation… Heh, well, then you'll get Nemesis, Point Blank and Justice's definition of torture."

Nemesis clicked his firearm.

"Have a nice stay and stay out of trouble." And with that Maverick along with 360 walked away towards the inside of the airport, getting stares from the other humans.

Egypt was speechless. He had never ever heard of such a secretive unit of America's military, but then again, all nations are careful to not tell any vital secrets, but Greece seemed to recognize that soldier Maverick. Those two did give off an intimidating aura. If anything, they're likely the more ruthless and cruel part of the military, if Greece's reaction is anything to go by.

"Are you sure that it's him?" Cyprus asked. "Maybe it's another person who took up the name, like he said."

"But his voice… it sounded exactly the same!" Greece said with probably the most panicked Egypt had heard him in years.

"They're called voice modulators, ya dumbass!" Turkey spat at him.

Egypt sighed as the two began bickering again. Well, this day couldn't possibly get more confusing. A realization then struck him, and he widened his eyes. Wait… He looked behind and he nearly wanted to curse.

Gigi was gone.

He began to turn back to his friends when he heard a strange sound. Egypt frowned and reached out to his back, where he felt something stuck to him, he pulled if off and saw it was paper. No, it was another drawing, her drawings. More juvenile doodles.

This time it was more odd than unnerving. He saw a small drawing of a smiling Gigi and America on top of a circle holding hands with two soldiers, he widened as he noticed an arrow pointing at one of them saying "Maverick" and he began to realize that it did look like him. The two soldiers also joined hands with other soldiers around the circle, there were about a dozen in all, each with a distinct design.

Egypt crumpled the paper in his hands. He was going to ask America a lot of questions later.

/ / / / /

George went out the door and out to the backyard of the house, a frown on his face, and he adjusted his glasses. How could this be? He had heard the reports from America in full detail and there was no doubt about it, there was something amiss, and they needed to be careful. The last thing they need are for spies to find out who and what he and Gigi really are. The consequences would be disastrous.

It was another addition to his mental list of cautions. Oh, what stress awaited him. First, Gigi's fits, and now a breach of security. Ah, but George was determined to make sure that everything would end well.

George came up to the small playground then he stopped when, much to his surprise, he found Gigi, now wearing puritan clothing with her braid in front of her shoulder, sitting on the swing set looking down with a depressed expression. He stared at her before he walked towards her.

Gigi looked up at him, but didn't say a word, and looked away. George stood next to the swings set and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What did you do?" George asked gently.

"None of your business, old man." Gigi muttered grumpily, still not looking at him.

"Did you have fun in Salem and the airport?"

Gigi smiled, then snorted. "Yeah."

George sighed in dismay. "Gigi..."

"Don't sigh and "Gigi" me, you old fart! I did what I had to do for all of us." Gigi hissed viciously at him, then scoffed and turned away again. "Besides, all I did was say hello to one of them."

"Perhaps, but what exactly is your definition of "hello", Gigi?" George gave her that stare, that death stare, the one parents use on their children.

Gigi, for all her power and brashness, didn't have the will to endure the look and whimpered and shrank under his stare.

"Gigi..."

"I hate you..." Gigi grumbled, crossing her arms like the child she was.

"Ah, I'm sure you do..." George chuckled good naturedly then patted her head, much to her annoyance. "Now, either tell me what you did or tell me what you were up to in Salem, if you don't then I'm afraid I will have to confiscate all of your stuffed toys and I will block all websites on the computers except for political ones."

Gigi shrieked in horror at that threat. Like he mentioned before, Gigi was a child at heart, and when George put his foot down Gigi doesn't dare continue with her schemes. Even if she did, she would have to deal with America's disappointed look, and Gigi's poor heart wouldn't be able to bear it.

"You... You old...!" Gigi stammered in anger.

"Yes, I am a old man, as well as a fart. You only said it a couple million times." George couldn't help the smile on his face, but now it was time to get back to the seriousness of the situation. "Now, please tell me you didn't spill blood. Unless, of course, you decided to-"

"I did." Gigi cut him off rudely and bluntly. "So, don't worry. But, I'll admit that some of my anger did slip out."

"I had a feeling it would." George sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

"I just wanted to give him a warning."

"Him?"

"Justice's..."

"Oh."

" ** _I_** gave him a doll of himself, and a drawing that I made."

"Oh, dear."

"No one, unless they have wrinkles, says "oh, dear" anymore, old fart."

"I am old, Gigi."

"I know."

They both laughed.

"Whatever you're planning, please don't do it, Gigi." George pleaded, he felt bad for bringing the brief light- hearted moment to an end, but it's for her sake as well. "You'll likely end up bringing more harm than good."

"It's for him! For everyone!" Gigi screeched.

"But at what cost?"

"It doesn't matter!"

"It does, Gigi, it truly does. Forgive me, Gigi, but if what you are planning involves disastrous consequences…" George closed his eyes for a brief moment then began to walk away, but not before looking back at Gigi, who looked at him with angry tears. "I will have to step in and stop you."

George left her, despite his wounded heart and her bursting into tears, at the swing set and back inside the house. He should inform America that Gigi came back and inform him to prepare for an explanation for Egypt, who knowing Gigi, was probably hopelessly confused. Also, he wanted to see if Prussia was alright and he needed to see if the other nations are having a pleasant stay, as well as explaining who he was.

He had many things to do, but he wasn't particularly concerned about all of them, at least he will have the chance to make new friends.

 **Well, that's that! I hope you liked it! Hopefully the next update won't take three months. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to NadiaJA627 and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing. Wow, it's been a long time since I've last updated. Geez, I'm sorry it took so long to finally upload another chapter. It's pretty embarrassing. I'll try not to take as long next time... hopefully... Now, on with the show!**

As much as America hated to admit it, sometimes he actually kind of liked it when he put his foot down on people. He wanted them to know that it won't be so easy taking advantage of him and that he's no doormat. If someone messed with him or his family, there will be consequences. Besides, it's kind of funny seeing the look of peoples' faces when he reminds them that he did have a scary side.

In Gigi's case, it was a little satisfying… but at the same time, he felt bad for scaring the kid. He loved her to death, and he always will, but boy did she love stressing him out even though she didn't mean to. They had that in common.

And this time, when she decided to up and disappear on the same day as a World Meeting and when the CIA informed him that there was a security breach, really pushed him over the edge. It took a whole lot of restraint not to look like a mess in front of the others and pretend that there's nothing wrong.

So… he's kind of mad at Gigi. So… he's gonna give her what we in the house call _a very stern talking to_ …

Which was why she's hiding behind Tony right now.

"Fuck! Fucking fuck, bitch! Why you using me as a damn meat shield, huh?!"

"Would you be _quiet_ already?" Gigi hissed venomously at, and she retreated once she made eye-contact with America's disapproving stare again. "The sooner I think up of a way to fix this, the sooner I'll leave you alone, so shut up and let me _think_!"

"No way in hell! Shoo, damn witch, shoo!"

"I said be quiet! And stop cursing so much. It's immature!"

You're one to talk, Gigi.

Tony stopped talking and glaring lasers into Gigi for a moment. Wow, did Tony actually decide to-

"Fuckshitfuckshitfuckshitfuckshitfuckshitfuckshitfuckshitfuckshitfuckshitfuckshit-"

"Oh, sweet home Alabama, SHUT UP!"

Nevermind.

So… should America intervene _now_ and have a serious talk with Gigi, or should he wait and see how this ended? With all the stress from the World Meeting, the security breach (which he _will_ figure out, dammit!), Gigi having gone AWOL for a while and giving him a heart attack, and the news he got from the CIA, he could use a good laugh. You know, just as long no one got abducted by UFOs or sent to hell in the process.

"Watch your language, you freak of nature!" Gigi snapped at the short alien, who narrowed his big red eyes at her. Freak of nature? Ha, that's rich considering Gigi _created_ \- "Call me… what you said _one more time_ , and I'll incinerate you on the spot!"

Tony growled at her, which caused America to widen his eyes a little. Weird, Tony doesn't growl. Guess Gigi had that effect on people. "Fine. I'll fucking stop calling you bitch. You fucking happy? You damn fucking happy?"

Gigi's eye twitched at the other cuss words but took a deep breath. "Yes, _thank you_."

"Instead, I'll call you _hoe_!"

That, combined with Gigi's furious shriek, might as well caused America to start doubling over in laughter. But he won't, 'cause it's not nice to call Gigi, a little kid, a _hoe_. He'd never do that to her… America wondered if it kinda worked as a punishment if he let Tony humiliate her all day… Nah, he wouldn't want Tony to get hurt.

Speaking of Tony getting hurt, now Gigi was shaking Tony violently by the shoulders until he apologized for insulting her. Which would work, except Tony looked more dizzy than remorseful. Sheesh, he'd better step in before Tony barfs on Gigi and makes things worse.

"Okay, okay, kids. I think that's enough fighting for today…" America smiled in amusement as he pulled the two apart, with Gigi flailing around trying to recapture Tony and his alien buddy lying half-conscious on the floor. "Gigi, I'd stop doing anything that'll get you even more grounded if I were you."

Gigi froze, as if she just remembered her current situation, and she paled in fear. "I-It's his fault for provoking me!"

"Yeah, but it's also your fault for taking the bait and acting so immature. And no, you being a kid doesn't excuse it." America told her in a serious tone, and Gigi faltered. Sighing, he looked toward Tony. "You ok, buddy?"

Tony groaned and slowly got back up, and when he did, he glared at Gigi. "Witch."

Gigi hissed and tried to tackle him again, but America held her back by the collar. "Watch it, alien!"

"Hoe."

"Why you-"

"Tony, don't call her a hoe. It's not nice." America chastised the little guy, and he offered a sympathetic smile. "Hey, how about you head back to the ship for a while? I need to talk to Gigi for a bit."

Tony glared at Gigi some more before huffing. "Fine. I'll fucking leave. Be sure to put her down good, Al."

And as he felt, Gigi stuck her tongue out at him and scowled at the door after it slammed shut.

"I curse the day he landed in Roswell." She mumbled hatefully under her breath.

America wanted to reprimand her for that, but he just wanted to get straight to the point. He took a deep breath. "Gigi, we need to talk."

Gigi stopped her scowling, and her expression became one of slight fear and apprehension as she looked back at America. "I-I didn't cause any trouble. I didn't hurt anyone. I only went to Salem to check up on some things but I didn't release anything or anyone!"

"Yeah, but George told me how you 'introduced' yourself to Egypt." America said sourly with air quotes and crossed his arms. "What the hell, Gigi? This isn't a game. I know you hate pretty much everyone, but this behavior is beyond silly. And two of the Warheads were there, and you know they don't like you. So why-"

Then it hit him. Egypt. Gigi going to see him. The Warheads.

America's expression softened, and he looked down at the trembling girl "Aw, man… You went to visit Egypt cause he's… cause of… Justice?"

"Yeah…" Gigi said quietly, and she pulled her cap over her eyes, as if she were ashamed of herself. "I had no idea the Warheads were going to suddenly pop up out of nowhere. And okay, maybe I did scare Egypt a little… but I just wanted to test him."

 _"Why?"_

"I wanted to see if he can handle scary stuff like Justice can." Gigi explained innocently with her cap still covering her eyes, shuffling her feet, and she added, "Turns that he can, but I think he has a little bit of anger issues whenever his mom is brought up."

America facepalmed. Oh, for the love of George Washington… "Oh my god, Gigi…"

"But I didn't do anything else to him or the other barbarians- I mean, _nations_! Nothing terrible, I swear!" Gigi cried out in alarm, flailing her arms about in a panic. "I-I'm not _that_ dumb! I mean I _knew_ what I was doing, but I didn't get in over my head or anything! Honest!"

He sweatdropped at Gigi's nervous breakdown, even though he's already gone through this one too many times. Jeez, Gigi, it's not like America was going to torture her or even considering doing anything like that! And it's not like she grew with abusive adults either! Was he _that_ scary when pissed off?

"What _else_ happened?" America asked exasperatedly

Gigi stopped her panicking then appeared to think about it for a moment. "I think Maverick and Nemesis saw me… but they didn't do anything to me or anyone for that matter! They even saved me from being interrogated by Egypt after my- I messed up! I don't know why the sudden kindness but-"

"I'm sorry, they _saw_ you?" America raised an eyebrow, voice becoming cold.

Gigi pulled her cap over her eyes again to avoid his gaze. "…Maybe… probably… I think…?"

"You _think?_ "

"I didn't stick around to know for sure."

"Uh-huh…"

"…I'm in big trouble, right?"

"…Yup."

Naturally, Gigi deflated to the floor and burst into tears

Let's see… the obvious solution was to ground her harshly for a whole month, maybe more, but America quickly realized that it won't exactly work this time. Nations were here, and he's not sure if the adopted daughter or sister lie will work this time. Not to mention Gigi will hard time keeping herself in check. But he _could_ ground her after everyone left.

Yeah, that's right. No TV or any kind of fun stuff for a whole month! Ooh, or maybe even two months! God, he felt like such a jerk… Oh, and say goodbye to all those stuffed animals in her room. Hopefully they'll all be able to fit in the attic… and the basement… and the garage-

So… what else could he do?

Hmm…

There's… ONE other option he could go with. It always worked with Congress and the rest of the government.

Oh boy…

"You really gave us a scare, Gigi. I told you, and I know that you know I told you, that you can't go running off at times like this." America said gravely. "I love you, and I'm happy you're okay, but I'm gonna have to be harsh on you this time if I don't want another repeat of today."

"What are you going to do?" Gigi asked quietly, scared.

America smiled, and he wrapped his arms around her then picked her up in a tight hug. "You're gonna accompany me and George as we meet with the rest of the UN! So, basically, you're gonna have to talk to them… _nicely_."

He couldn't see her face, but he could feel Gigi stiffening in his arms. America wondered if she was currently using any and all self-restraint she had to not scream and run fleeing to Salem instead of meeting new people. Hey… Wait, was she even breathing?

It wasn't like America was going to torture her, though Tony would definitely try to convince him to do just that. America's gonna introduce her to people she'll like, or at least not hate, yeah, not hate's the best way to put it. Who knows? It might actually help her! Emphasis on _might_.

A couple more seconds passed, and America seriously started to worry that Gigi fainted, she finally responded.

"Wait… _what_?" Gigi weakly squeaked, dazed.

"Well, your little stunt kinda proved to me that I can't trust you to stay in one place and leave everyone alone," America explained affectionately, and he put her down then ruffled her hair as she stared at him agape. "So that means that George and I'll have to keep an eye on ya! And since we're gonna be with the other nations, that means _you_ have to be there too!"

Even though there's also a chance of things going horribly wrong if he went in this direction…

"Nope, no, no way in the fiery depths of hell and Salem! Forget it, Alfred!" Gigi huffed, and childishly crossed her arms with her head held high. "The only way you'll get me anywhere near those vacuous dullards and the execrable maelstrom of avarice that they form is if I get to burn them or send them straight to Salem!"

Aw, geez. Gigi's using advanced vocabulary. That's when you know she meant business.

Still, America doubted she'lll still be complaining after what he's about to tell her.

"Not even if I…" America grinned mischievously and whispered to her, though he hoped to God that he won't regret making this decision. "Let you pretend to be my secretary again?"

"…I'll be back in five minutes."

/ / / / /

Japan was no stranger to things that could be consider very odd or even disturbing, or at least be considered that in other countries, he was actually infamous for that. His anime was considered strange and sometimes disturbing, his 'kawai' culture was sometimes considered strange, Japan himself was considered strange if not hard to read (notably by Italy).

It didn't bother him as much as if baffled him. Yes, his possession of erotic woodcuts could be considered disturbing and horrifying, which was exactly why he always went to great lengths to keep them hidden, and he had his otaku tendencies, but… that couldn't mean he was strangest nation that ever lived, right?

In fact, he knew a good number of nations who could be considered even 'stranger' than him. Italy had an unhealthy habit of running absolutely naked into Switzerland's property and sneaking into Germany's house to him sleep with him (literally, unfortunately) And then there was America, who Japan sometimes considered the personification of strangeness. Now that he thought about it, their oddness might be one of the reasons they're good friends.

Then there were the ones who were… creepy, to say the least. Russia immediately came to mind, of course. Oh, and who could forget about Miss Belarus and her inexplicable obsession for Russia himself? Even Japan considered it terrifying.

He… honestly wasn't sure who was worse.

But right now, Japan was seriously thinking that his 'companion' might be worse than either of them. The very person in front of him had to be strangest, unnerving disturbing person he had ever encountered in his life.

And that was certainly saying something.

Less than a half-hour later, and Japan still didn't know how he got himself in this situation. All he knew was that it was something beyond his control. He remembered being at the airport, having just left the plane after a long trip when he received a message from America telling him that he was going to receive a 'traveling companion' of sorts because there was an emergency regarding security.

While sudden, Japan appreciated that America would go through the trouble of having someone keep him safe. Very nice of him. However, he was left rather befuddled when America mentioned to 'not be alarmed by the spooky European get-up' and that 'this dude will keep you safe and he won't go against orders, so you _don't_ need to call the cops PLEASE'.

However, when said companion finally arrived, Japan finally understood what America meant.

Oh dear…

Japan had been stuck stammering an 'eto' and 'ano' as his new acquaintance was huddled in corner going through his suspicious-looking briefcase (and if he might add, it also possessed a variety of strange odors). The man had been doing that for a while now, a worrying amount of time now.

"So, Corvus-san, you say that you are… with the government?" Japan asked slowly as he felt a bead of sweat fall down from his face. "As well as the military? And that you were sent by the government to investigate a security breach, interrogate any suspicious persons and be there to provide medical assistance if needed?"

He couldn't help the flinch when the man turned around and once again revealed the black plague doctor mask on his face. Yes, the man in question was in fact, dressed as a plague doctor, although Japan had learned that he did not like the implication that he was 'playing dress up'. The mystery man certainly did put a lot of effort into his co… outfit, yes, outfit. Japan wouldn't want the man to kill him with that staff of his.

He was completely dressed in black, even his chin-length hair, the only feature he didn't bother to conceal, was black. Just like a plague doctor, he was dressed in robes, a mantle, gloves, and he even had a hat and a belt. It didn't help make him any less intimidating.

Yes, apparently this plague doctor was an agent from the government. Although Japan didn't remember his friend mentioning that he was going to change the uniforms of the military and others. Was there an event Japan didn't know about?

Whatever the reason was, Japan felt incredibly uneasy around this man.

"Why, sir, I believe I just told you that a few minutes ago." The plague doctor, Corvus, said cheerfully with a hoarse and distorted voice. "Twice, actually. Are you well? Would you like me to perform a checkup? I am a _doctor_ , after all…"

Japan shifted uncomfortably and tried to speak without stuttering to little success. "W-Well, I… No, I do not think that will be necessary, although I do appreciate the offer, Corvus-san. I-It's just… how do I put this…"

"Ah-ah, no need to explain." Corvus held up a hand to stop him, and he tapped his temple. "Your fear and struggle to adapt to a strange situation especially perpetrated by one as odd as I have caused you to struggle to let new knowledge sink in as you try to gain some sense of security. Such is the nature on sentient beings, humans and nations alike. America, however, is not like you. He is different. He is above… No matter."

The plague doctor shook his head while Japan stared at said man in bewilderment. That's… a very accurate way of describing Japan's current state, although he had a bit of trouble understanding what the man was saying. What was he going to say about America?"

"Also, you understandably have a problem believing that one such as I would be from the government, despite the message from America and my ID card." Corvus continued without letting Japan to speak. "In fact, I'm willing to wager my prized syringe that you think that you wouldn't be surprised if you found out that I'm actually a deranged mental asylum escapee or serial killer _pretending_ to be a government agent."

Corvus gave him a pointed look after he said this, and Japan felt his face heating up in shame. "O-Oh, I- How- I didn't-"

"I am a psychologist as well as a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, among other things." Corvus informed him with a considerable amount of pride in his tone. "I have an extensive knowledge of the mind and its workings. I'd even be adept at manipulation if it weren't for my frightening appearance."

Japan swallowed nervously, feeling "F-Forgive me, Corvus-san, but th-that doesn't make me feel reassured at all."

Corvus stared at him, tilting his head. "Oh, I was supposed to make you feel reassured? My mistake, I often _forget_ how easy you beings are prone to fear. Quite pathetic, honestly…"

U-Um… did Corvus insult him or…? It's hard to tell, really.

"But to answer your earlier question, yes, I was sent to provide medical assistance if needed, among other things." Corvus stroked his chin. "I specialize in many… many… many… many fields. Oh yes… many indeed. I'd list them all, since it is not often someone not related to my work ask what my specialties are, but I'm afraid we don't have much time for idle chit-chat."

"I see," Japan nodded uneasily. "But can you at least tell me why you were asked to accompany me?"

"Didn't you receive a message from America? I had been given the task of being your… ah… bodyguard." Corvus snapped his fingers when he finally found the word. "Also, I will be present at that tedious meeting of yours. Like I mentioned before, I will be there to provide medical assistance if needed. Considering your habits of getting into fights…"

Now that was understandable. Japan nodded again, "Hai, quite right. But why _you_ , if you don't mind me asking?"

"…Because they'd figured you'd be one of the nations I'd be most docile with." Corvus answered nonchalantly as he kept going through his briefcase. "You're also not very well-liked among some of the members of our little group. They resent you for your actions in the second World War, and your attempts to erase your crimes from history and play the victim.

Japan paled. Oh… Oh no… "I… I understand…

"Good. Then there might be hope for you, after all, even if it's only a smidge," Corvus chuckled darkly before closing his briefcase before standing up with the item in hand. "Now then, I believe now it's time for us to leave. I obviously can't continue with my research here, and we're going to be late for the meeting."

"Very well," Japan said quietly, and he tensed. "But before we leave, if I may ask, what's in your briefcase?"

Corvus was unresponsive for a moment before he glanced back at said briefcase then looked again at Japan. "Betray this country again, and you'll have the honor of finding out."

Japan didn't ask any more questions.

/ / / / /

"Okay, that is, like, the last time we will, like, totally fly on United Airlines for, like, ever!"

And that was, like, only the _eighth_ time Poland had said that since they landed.

Hungary's lips curled up in an exasperated smile as she patiently listened to her friend ramble and complain in his valley girl way of speaking, which really didn't help make the situation more tolerable, but she both knew Poland long enough and cared for him too much to stay mad at him for it. It's just who he was.

Besides, she much preferred him, a good and loyal (and believe or not actually pretty smart) friend, to accompany her on her trip than the other few candidates available in her current circumstance. Yes, she's still mad at them, but she wasn't the one in the wrong and kept refusing to admit it while the body count just kept piling up.

But in her opinion, Poland shouldn't be complaining about United Airlines, he should be complaining about how they _both_ decided to travel via United Airlines.

Hungary sighed in dismay. Believe her, they didn't intend to use United Airlines at first or had high hopes that everything would go well, not at all. They were desperate, and thanks to a little incident with Poland and helping him find his sparkly pink cross that he lost, they ended up late for their plane. So, they didn't have much of a choice. Though looking back on it, she concluded that she's rather be late than have her flight delayed for the third time.

Even before they boarded the plane, Hungary and Poland both silently agreed that they'll keep the entire mishap a secret or else they'll suffer the mocking and scrutiny of just about everyone in the European Union… again.

"I can't, like, believe that our, like, cab is totally late!" Poland whined (again), and Hungary could only smile tightly. "We were, like, supposed. This is, like, the worst day, like, ever! Except for that, like, time, Russia beat and me and Lithuania, and when Germany, the clod, totally, like, invaded me and then, like, totally screwed my people over, and that time when…"

Hungary tuned out Poland's ranting for the time being and took out her phone now that she could use it. She loved Poland, but even she needed a break from his… quirks, and besides, she's curious if she's received any messages during the long flight.

Let's see… there's a couple from Czechia, one from Slovakia, three from Germany (that she happily deleted without a second thought), four from Italy, and…

America?

 _Heya, Lizzy! Where u at right now?_

 _U out of plane yet?_

 _I got some peeps I wanna introduce!_

Hungary snorted, but she was obviously curious.

Not that she had anything against America, but why would he-

"U-Uh, Lizzy…" Poland suddenly stuttered, annoyed attitude gone, and Hungary looked at him only to widen her eyes in surprise to see him nervous at something. "I… uh, like… please tell me that I'm not, like, seeing things."

"What are you talking about? Seeing what?" Hungary asked, baffled.

Poland lifted a trembling finger and pointed. "Those two sketchy and, like, totally unfashionable guys in military gear coming our way."

Hungary blinked, but she complied and looked at where Poland was pointing, almost expecting to see that he was overreacting, but much to her surprise, he was right, there were two guys in military gear walking towards them. She could feel her jaw to the ground at the sight of them. Except that, they were unlike any soldier Hungary had ever seen.

The first one on the right was the taller of the two and had a bit of a muscular but still youthful build. His face was complexly covered by a neck gaiter and some glowing gold-colored goggles, leaving only his messy black hair visible. His uniform seemed too customized for a normal soldier, like something you'd find in one of those videogames (though Hungary didn't know that much of them).

But it was the second one that really caught Hungary's attention and she immediately knew why Poland was so unnerved. In fact, Hungary wouldn't have even called him a soldier if it weren't for his gear and armor. It was all black, including his gloves, the soldier was wearing a cloak of sorts, having his hood up. His face was hidden by a theatrical comedy mask, split in white and black. The eyes likewise are differently colored: black for the right eye, and yellow for the left. The mask had a red grin.

But… that wasn't the weirdest part. The weirdest, or creepiest, part was the way he was walking, the masked man was in a very hunched position, and he never once moved from that position as he continued to walk towards them… Also, his was in chains, like literally. His hands were chained together. That couldn't be a good sign.

The humans all moved out of their way, except for some, probably tourists and foreigners who didn't have the slightest idea what was going on (welcome to the club), that wound up either getting politely shooed away by the taller one or scared into running off by the masked man's appearance.

Then they looked directly at them.

Well…

Shit.

"Oh my gawd. Like OMG, Lizzy!" Poland whispered in a panicky voice to Hungary, perhaps a bit too loud for his own good. "What's, like, going on? Are we, like, gonna die?"

"How should I know? I'm just as lost as you are!" Hungary hissed, panicking as well as the soldiers got closer. "But whatever you do, Feliks, don't mention the 'unfashionable' thing to their faces and we might have a good shot of getting out of here in one piece!"

"But Liz, how the hell are we, like, gonna pull that off?" Poland asked fearfully, trembling and biting his glittery manicured nails "That neck gaiter looks hideous! And it so doesn't, like, go with the armor!"

"They're the _army_ , Feliks!" Hungary reminded him anxious, wary of the approaching pair. "Soldiers aren't supposed to be dressed in high heels and covered in glitter!"

"There's nothing wrong in, like, killing and dying in style!"

"For the love of God, Feliks, if you don't pull yourself together in next five seconds, I-"

"Excuse me."

"What- I mean, _yes?_ " Hungary quickly tried to regain composure as she smiled nervously at the frankly terrifying-looking duo. "H-Hello, there… May we help you?"

The taller one raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Hey, calm down, Miss Hungary. There's no need to worry, we're not here to hurt ya."

He spoke with what sounded like an American Southern accent, and he sounded young, but that wasn't important. Hungary's jaw dropped at being called her nation name. "H-Huh? How did you-"

"Shh! It's a higher-ups secret, but we just happen to be higher-ups… in the military at least." The man said quietly, and he looked around, but the humans were going about their everyday business staying as far away from the pair as possible. He then turned back to them. "Oh, and we know that that guy's Poland too."

"The, like, one and totally only!" Poland said haughtily, before he did a double take and pointed an accusing finger at them. "Wait, but who the like, heck are you and that creepy guy in chains next to you? His fashion style is-"

The chained man suddenly moved, his head suddenly snapping up towards them, and Poland squeaked and hid behind Hungary.

"Eek! He looked at me, Lizzy!" Poland screeched, and then whispered to Hungary. "Not only is he unfashionable, he's pretty thin-skinned too."

The chained tilted his head, as if he heard them, and Hungary shook her head. She smiled apologetically at them. "Sorry about him. He's still kind of… _snappy_ from the flight. You know, because it's United Airlines and all."

"No harm done. We understand, right, partner?" The armored man looked to his apparent partner, who nodded slightly and flashed a thumbs up from his chained hands, and then back at them. "See? Like, I said no harm done. Oh, and as for who we are…"

The soldier straightened up his posture and saluted. "You can call me Guardian, member of a top-secret military branch of the great United States. If there's trouble, you can count on me for protection. And this creepy guy over here is…"

"J̜̄ͧͣ̑͐̋̚u̴̯̜͖̦͔̪̬ͣ̒͂̿̄̿s̳̲̪͚̠͎̹̿̋̔t̮̩̞͐͂͆͌̋ḭ͕͌̎c̘̪͈̞̤̳̘e̞̼ͯ̿ͬ̒̒̀ͅ" The masked man pointed at his mask while making some sort of sort of distorted and broken sounds. ""̱͎̤̯͎͚ͪ̓̎̚W̥̼̞̎̅̀e̛͖̥̳̝̱ͣ̔͌̆͆̈́̉'͈͖̋̇̐̿̌ͅvͥ̀̅͡e̼̬͢ ̸̣̰͍͈ͪ͋̎ͥb̛͙̗͉̐̅̒ͤͦ̑e͕̟̤̤͕̊ͅe̢͈͔̰͖̱̐ͣ̃͂n̙͂̐ ̷̦̖̂͌ͤ̃̊̀w͙̻͡ȁ̸̮i̇ͧ̂ͯͩ͛̇t̡̊͆ͭ́̚i̸̒̐ͭ̔̔̉̾n̻̺̼̏g̵̔̽ͯ̃ͦ ͖̦̎̋͂ͧ̐̀a͖̼̱̟̲ͧͧͨ͐͡ ͉̼̠͇͕̤̠̃l̺͔͔̞͕̹̈ͨ̓͌ͯͣͯ͝ͅo̎̌ṇ̷̻̼̝̻g̴̲̰̙͙͓̑̓̿ ̤͔͖̻̲͓̖̉ͥͭ͗ͨ̍ṱ̜̮͓̈́͆̔̊͑̔im̗̙̪͖̺ͯ̎ͤe̓͐ͯ́͠ ͌̅҉t̃̆̃҉͖͍͕̥o̶̩͔̾̒ ̩͇͍͉͕͒̈̚͟m̡̳̊͆eě͖̘̘̮͇̤͋ͪ̓̑͢t̽ͤͩͣ̉̒͑ ̷͔͔̺̜̜̑ͅy̡͇̮̰̭̳̻ͯ̐͌̇ͮͨ̋ọ͓̠̆̔̾̏ͮ̚͢u͎̬͖̹̯̅̔͗ͣͫ͒̕ ̫̳̲ͤͭͨ͆ͭt̶̲̥̯͎̍ͩ̇ͧ̀̏wo͓̞̤̙.͖̖ ̡̹͙̮Y̢͔̖̲̤͍̖ͧͦ̎́ͫͯo̝ͯͣ̽̕u͏͇͉͈ͅ,ͮ͒̈̔ ̠̩̫͔̗̟̰͒͆̅ͧ̉̀w̤̝̏̄͋͊ͥ͝h͔͚̮̊̓͒ͯ͗́̑o̔ͬͬ ̯̔̄̀ͣ͒H̪͓̭̖̾͂̅́̐E̡̼̘͐̇̃̋ͥ̇ ̟̬̬̣ͣ̊̓͋ḧ̡́̏ͤa̫̭ͭͭ̅̊s̰̬̮̮ ̸͎̳̮̠̞͚̳͐͗͂g͙͕̤̺̲͈ͥͭ̉ͨ͡ȑ̗̥͓͉͖̕ỏ̶̳̳ͯ͆̋ͫ̇w̾͟ṇ̩̪̣̱͉͇͑͑͝ ̛͎̪͊q͔̖̺͔̩̞͚u̴̙̼̱̺̲̻̯ͩͬ̏̓i̲̗̓ͭt̃̍̏e̩̰ ̨͍̗̣̫ͤ̇a͙ͮͪ͠t̯͔̺̄ͫt̮̻̞̣̎̓̓͂ͯ̆a̲̅̑̐́ć͛ͣ͒̋͠h͍̞͙̪̙̲̲͌ͦȩ̠ͥ̽̌̑d ͉ͣͅṫ͎̥͓̻̰o̧̐ͨ̀̑̽ͦ,̙̺͓͍̮ͤ̄ͩ̽̊̈̚͝ ̻͚̳̩͚̹͚͑̔a̼̤̼͙̖̰͗ͦͮ̽̎nͤ͆͞dͮ̉́ ̹̠͕̒̌̆̿͆y̞̘̦̲ͤ̆ͥͦ͘o̫͓͍̯̳̙̩ͦ̌ͩũ̢̜̝̺̣̜̟̺ͯ̃͗̎͗̎,̡̻͎̻ͬ̉ͣ͋̽ͩ̄ ͚̠̗̣̯̤̗ͩ̐ͯ͌ͦͥt̩̮͇͉̮̮̯ͨ͒h̻ͨȇ̢͕͖̜̘̆̉ ͇̠̯ͣ͒ͦͩ͐͛͢ḵ̦̓ͯ̑̏͐̇͢ȋ̗͚̺̬̪̦̂ń͔̱̥̱̻̼͚̽̓ͭͪͤ́̚d̊̀l̠͓͕͐ͨyͦ̉̈́ͥ ͙͈̙͔̠̭̎̓͒u̩͙̣̤͋͡n̮͔͛̊ͧ͒̚w͖̼͚͍͕̅̔ͥiͩ̕ţ͉̝̥̞̺͉̜̊̐̍͆̍t̡̳̗̆į̺̥̗̺͕̚n͉̤̣͈̲͉̭̄ͨͤ̇̾͂ḡ̘̼̬̠ͅ ̩͈͓̺͛̑̆b̠͕̫̲̪̥̙̂̌̑͞ȅ͋̃͌ṅ̺̜̳̜̘͆e̝̗̫̦ͪf̠̟̘̔̌̌a͉̪̲̦̳̿̀͊̋̑͑̐c̟̻͚ͤ̍̆̎͑to͋͒ͦ̒͠ṟ̙͙̫̱̈́̆͐͑ͫ̈́́.̻̟̳̙͕ͣ ̲̭̩̟̪ͯT͓̤̦̯̂̏͛͞i̼̲̅̉̊́̚s̅̀̽̎̃ ͓̳̼̬̓ȧ̤̒͝ ͉͓̭̞͉̱̂͗ͪ̓s͉̳̖̗̪h̸̗̽̈́̓̅ͬa̟̰ͧ͐m̩̟̹̫͚̼̰̈́̄e̙̜̰̓͆̉̊̔͆͡ ͙̗͓̮ͭ͊͂͊Ć̩ͪ̍̈́͌̇͘o̡͈̺̹͆̋ͣr̶̫̤͍̭̰͑̓v̰̟u̖̤̳̗̺̲͐s͍͔̅ͭ͂̃̈́̾̚͘ ͓̫̐͗̓ͧ̇͊̋i̷̼̟̔̎̀ͨs̜̹͈̲̼̰̎̾͐̄̉͌͟ͅn̬̮ͪ̊͟'̴̬̪̪̙̀̿̾̾̌̅ṯ̬͔̮̹̂̿ͣ̄ͣ̌ ͔ͣ̈̊̀ͪh̢̼̘͗̓̔ͪͧe̗͈̞͋͑̄̊͗̓r͚͕̥͉̓ͪ̓͂ͧę͎͈̯̰̘ͥͅ ̸̣̟ͧ̌̆ͭ̑ẃ̵̜͉̜͎̺ͯ̚ͅǐ̱̺͒̌͡t̟̤͈͕͉̝̃ȟ̦̹̪̪̯̪̈́̉ͦ͂ͬ ̤̜̝̪̆̽̂̽̒̔͠u̮͕̦̖̩͕̅ͯ͘s̝̹͕̖̞̓͌̆ͥ̐́ ͉a͙̦̼͎͂͐̋ͦͧt͔̬̀ͅ ͊̇̓̌ͣ̆t̬͙̜͉̣͖͗̉́̃͑̂ͤh̛͎̥̭̠͍͕̤͛̇ͬ̏ͯ̇e̪̻̼͐̈́̊̓͞ͅ ̺̦̝͌́̄ͪ͆̿̑͢m̘̲̃̿̆ͣͣō̫̜̝̰̝̟̽̈́̈̍͢m̱ͧͦ͆e͔̗̝̙̰̓͋ͭ͛ͤͫ͛n̯̭̰̈̄̆͛́̅͝t̵̥͍̙̻ͨ̋͌.̸̠̭̺͓̤̩͓͛͐̚"̪͚̖͍̖͙͆͛̆͜ͅ"

"HUH?!"

The masked man seemed to sputter (though Hungary couldn't be too sure, he was wearing a damn mask after all), and he threw his head back while holding his chest and making some sort of sound that resembled laughter.

"Like, okay, even I can, like, tell you're laughing at me."

"Don't mind Justice, he's harmless… mostly harmless… And he's been speaking that way for years." Guardian chuckled amiably, putting his hand on Justice's shoulder, and as he turned to look at the two of them, Hungary could have sworn he was smiling under that neck gaiter. "Sometimes he likes to screw with me by speaking like that. In fact, he likes to screw with just about everyone."

Justice 'spoke' some more garbled sounds, shrugging in an 'Eh' kind of way, and Hungary's eyebrow twitched.

"Noted," Hungary noted, and she smiled politely to the nicer, _not creepy_ soldier. "Anyway, if you don't mind me asking… What are you doing here? And why did you approach us? Did something happen?"

Guardian seemed to stiffen, and his happy demeanor seemed to vanish. "Right. There's someone among you, a threat to this country's sovereignty, that's been giving us a bit of a headache for a while. It's so bad that we got called in to investigate out _in public_. That's when you know that things are pretty bad."

"Well that sounds sucky…" Poland remarked, and then paled as something dawned on him. He glared at the two. "Hey, like, wait a minute! Does this, like, mean that you two think-"

"Oh, don't worry," Guardian quickly assured them calmly. "You two are in the clear, I promise. We're just here to investigate the airport and staff to see if you-know-who's been around here. And with Justice here, we should be able to sniff out any rats."

Justice 'laughed' again. Hungary sweat-dropped, and she was sure she heard Poland gulp. Were they really afraid of these two a few minutes ago? Okay, maybe she shouldn't start saying anything. She didn't really like Justice… Would you trust a stranger wearing a mask and that's all chained up?

"Oh… Good for you, then…" Hungary blinked, and she raised an eyebrow at Guardian. "But then why did you approach us in the first place?"

"Because we were told to explain the situation to any nation we encounter, either as a warning not to try anything funny or to clear up any confusion." Guardian explained easily, and he rubbed the back of his head. "In your case, it's the latter."

Justice suddenly looked at his partner, and he made another weird sound. Guardian stared at him, and they proceeded into what could only be called a wordless conversation. Justice glanced at them a few times, and so did Guardian.

"Really? You think so?" Guardian asked a little disbelievingly, and Justice nodded slowly. "Fine, let's get on with it then. Well, we need to take our leave now. Oh! But before we go, I need to give you something.

Hungary looked at the soldier puzzledly as he went over to her. "Hmm?"

"America told me to give you this." Guardian walked over to her and took out a small card and handed it to Hungary. "It's a business card for our group. So if you ever find yourself in trouble, you can just call me, Justice, or any other member of the group. We'll be over there in a flash… literally!"

Guardian quietly laughed at his own (terrible) joke while Justice chuckled, which sounded like an old man's wheezing laugh, along.

"Wow, sweet!" Poland grinned, taking this a lot better than Hungary was. "We just got ourselves free bodyguards, Liz!"

"Wha…?" Hungary gaped at this. _America_ told them to give _her_ this? "But why would he-"

"Because he's worried, and he doesn't want anything to happen to… his _pals_." Guardian spoke the word as if he didn't understand the meaning, or why America would consider them friends. "Believe it or not, he really likes you… as well as Poland. He feels that you can understand him. So, he wants to make sure you're all safe and sound."

"Oh…" Hungary blinked, and looked at the business card as an awkward smile spread across her face. "Wow… that's really nice of him… I'll be sure to thank him when I see him."

"Y̻̭̪̖̏ͪ͑̊͊͞o̱̹̙̠̩̞͊̃͛ṳ̴̰̤͚̏'̧̝̣͔͉͊͗ͪ̏d ̦̟͉̼͚͉͒͒̔ͤ̌bͯ͞ȩ̺̗͔̖̺̬̒̓ͩ͊̉̚tͧ͐ͮ̊ͫͩt̊̑̇̍ͬͣ͌e̡͙̠̞͆̒͊̍r͍ͯ͒͗"Justice hissed in a very hostile manner, head turning up to look at them, and Poland hid behind Hungary again. "̸̢̜̺͈͈̲̜̗̮͖̥͋͂͐̈͋̑ͅͅC̴̖̹̺̝̠̗̟̳̺̯͙͛̾͛̉͋̃͌̃̆̌͂͐́͝͠ͅo̴̻̭̞̜̯͎͙͇̺̤̯̺̯͕͑̀̉̓̌̽̅́̀̃͆͋͝ͅữ̶͙͗̀̄̿̚n̵̗̖͑̾͑̎̊́̾t̴͕̥͔̝̗̼̫͍̐́̇͆̇͗̄̓̈́̍̓̚ý̸͖̃͌̀̽͌̅͂͝ͅǫ̵̨͈̺̲̦̘̝͐̅̆̊͗͛̐̈́͒́̊̾̌̚̕ų̷̢̞͖̖̼̗̫̯͎̦̊͊͛̔̂͘͜͠͝r̵͍͛̍̊̈́̅̇͑̏̏̋̈͐͑͆s̵̻͖̯̈̀̆͑͂̀̽̎̿̓̈͊̊̚͝e̴͈̯͈͚̻͔͎̭̞͍̟͇̩̟͑̌͆̓̓̔̌̉̃̀̚̚͝l̶̫̽̊̏̀̆̉͘͘͠͝͠ͅv̷̘̥͕͉͚͇̞͈̼̳͚̠̤̞͑̐̉͐̋̑̿́͌͋ͅe̸̫͍̺̙̽̀̆͋́̌̑̆͝s̵̛̟͕̩̪͑͒̐̅͠ ̴͇͈̙̰̼̥͌̌́͋̅̀́͌͒̀͘͘͘͝ḽ̶̛͙̥͓̬̻̯̹̝̣́̓͊̅̕̕͝͝û̸̬̳̭͎̠̠́͐̑̀̏̿̔͛͊̔͒̔̅͝ç̵͔̦̺̈́͂͌̚͜k̶̡̢̧͓̭̯̣̞͔͔͆y̴̧̱̼͖̩̦̬͙͚͎͍̱̓ͅ.̸̞̀͛"̶̨̥̖̭̙̮̬̣̘̆̅̚͜͝

Guardian put his hand on his partner's shoulder again, and with a distorted hiss, Justice returned to his hunched position. Hungary's eye twitched. What was that about?

The friendly soldier chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Again, don't mind him. He loves scaring people, no matter who they are. But anyway, we better leave to meet with the staff. Have a safe trip, y'all."

Guardian gave them a salute before nodding to Justice, and the pair walked away, leaving Hungary confused as to what the hell just happened.

But then Justice stopped, and in a rather disturbing and almost inhuman manner, turned to look back at them with his mask. "Watch your step. Be cautious with the possible traitor next to you. And most importantly, don't get yourselves into a fate worse than death~"

Then he stalked away to catch up to Guardian.

Hungary shuddered, and then looked at the card Guardian gave her.

 _"Dead or alive, using **any** means necessary." Serving and protecting the country since the 1900's._

 _Phone number: XXXXXXXX_

 ** _The Warheads._**

/ / / / /

George paced back and forth, something which he felt he's going to be doing very often in the next few days, as he racked his brain for answers.

Who could be after them? Was the breach of security and spies for the sake of top-secret government information as one would expect? Or was the goal something much sinister? Surely, they couldn't have made a mistake and now jeopardized the entire secret of the nature of their existence, thus meaning that all hell will break lose?

Even despite her recklessness, George highly doubted that Gigi would be the one responsible. If anything, she was the one who was always the most careful in keeping her presence and actions secret (again, despite recent actions).

And America would always make sure to hide their existence well, even from a good part of his government. He was protective of them, always doing everything he could to keep them safe from danger.

Sometimes going a bit _too_ far.

The fifties, for example, at the height of paranoia and McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare, America often went to extreme lengths to keep both him and Gigi from the general public in fear of a Russian spy or a communist sympathizer discovering them and then go run and tell Russia tell all about it.

Now, George didn't want to sound arrogant or presumptuous, because as the scenario never happened at the time, there's no way to know exactly what would've happened, but he thought that in the event that Russia intended to cause harm to him and Gigi, they would have been more than capable of defending themselves especially since they had the element of _surprise_ at their disposal.

While doing so may cause their… inhuman nature to be exposed to not only Russia, but also an uncertain number of humans, it's nothing Gigi's magic can't fix. Just take and make up some memories, simple as that… if Gigi didn't break their minds or flood them with hellish imagery out of spite first.

Ah… But anyway, this was very problematic.

Whoever was behind this little breach, it was too late for George to do anything to mend it now, and now the Warheads have been sent in, out in public no less! And they were as subtle and willing to play nice as Gigi was. In fact, Gigi had twenty times more restraint than them.

His feelings of the ultra-secret military group were… a little mixed at best, but nothing bordering on hate. While George won't deny that they have helped this country countless times, and their abilities were extremely impressive and their loyalty to America himself was appreciated… Most of them were rather lacking in morals. They were loyal, yes… but _fanatically_ loyal.

Not George blamed them for the way they were now today, it wasn't their fault, although they did make certain choices entirely on their own. But still, he feared what this could mean for foreign relations. An ultra-top-secret military squad wouldn't be the worst scandal this country had to deal with, but their gruff and threatening manner will probably cause problems.

Well, as long as the Warheads hide some of their _abilities_ , the damage won't be as bad-

"Hey, Awesome Specs!"

George gasped and held his heart, nearly jumping out of skin as he was interrupted from his thoughts and turned to face whoever just spoke to him. His expression softened when he saw it was Prussia, who was accompanied by… His eyes widened just slightly.

"Oh, hello there, Mr. Prussia." George greeted the ex-nation politely with a smile. "I see that you seem to have managed to achieve your goal of escaping punishment. Congratulations."

"Kesesesese~ Vell, the awesome me has managed to make an awesome compelling argument." Prussia boasted and cackled harshly, then wrapped an arm around a rather irritated Germany. "That, and I told bruder that I'd introduce the semi-awesome you if he didn't lock the awesome me away."

"You're still not allowed to be near the meeting." Germany reminded him sternly.

Prussia merely cackled and waved it off, as if that were going to stop him anyway. "Anyway, Awesome Specs, meet my uptight _bruder_ Germany AKA Ludwig. Ludwig, meet Awesome Specs, the awesome-but-as-awesome-as-me guy I told jou about."

Germany scowled slightly at his brother at being called uptight, while George merely smiled and extended his hand toward the blonde. "How do you do? My name is George. Mister America has told me a lot about you."

The German gazed at the hand warily, but he grabbed it anyways. "I wish could say the same for you. But ja, it's nice to meet you."

George didn't miss the obvious wariness and displeasure in the German's voice, but it didn't bother him really. He understood why he felt that. Try to see it from Germany's point of view: you're visiting an ally whom you're having some issues with, and then you discover there's a 'human' of unclear position aware that you're a nation living in America's house that he never mentioned before. Wouldn't you be suspicious?

He'll do his best to soothe and prevent from America possibly getting in trouble.

"West…" Prussia hissed, obviously displeased, nudging his brother. "Don't be uptight around Awesome Specs! You'll turn him off with jour attitude! He's cool, bruder. He has the awesome Prussian seal of approval! Is that not enough for you?"

George chuckled, appreciating how Prussia was vouching for him. "Now, Mister Prussia, you shouldn't be hard on your brother for not immediately trusting someone he just met."

"Kesesesese~ Oh, Awesome Specs, you're too good!

"And I've learned not to trust everything that has your 'awesome Prussian seal of approval'." Germany deadpanned, exasperation all over his face. You could tell he had gone through this countless time before.

"WHAT?!" Prussia squawked, looking as if he'd been slapped in the face. "So what if that whole thing with America's killer robots didn't turn out so well? Other than that, when have I ever disappointed you?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer." Germany sighed, much to Prussia's chagrin, and he ignored his brother as his attention went back to George. "Anyway, I'd like to speak you for a moment if you don't mind."

"Not at all," George smiled gently. "Ask away. I promise I'll do my best to answer your questions."

Germany looked happy to hear that. "Danke. Now-"

"Ooh, the awesome me first! The awesome me first!" Prussia exclaimed as he not so gently pushed his brother aside. "Tell me, Awesome Specs. How awesome do you think it'll be if the awesome me opened his own amusement park?"

Germany growled, "Bruder, that's _not_ important right now!"

"Ja, it is! I'm this close to convincing Alfred to giving me the funds necessary to do it!"

While the two of them began arguing, George chuckled nervously and wondered if it'd best if he intervened. Well, it was normal for them to argue, and Germany always eventually resolved the dispute… So perhaps he should wait unless one of them resorted to violence like he did whenever Gigi and Tony had their spats? Yes, perhaps it is.

Still, what lively, fun people these two were. George hoped they'll all be able to get along.

/ / / / /

America didn't know whether to feel worried or happy at seeing his 'secretary' beam with so much pride as they passed by confused nation and confused nation, even though she didn't show it that much.

Said secretary was a pale-skinned young woman wearing a business suit looking about eighteen, maybe a teensy bit too young for the job but America wasn't about to complain about if it made the kid happy, 'sides he had 'bout half-a-dozen possible explanations in case someone decided to ask, which he already rehearsed with her. Just follow the usual routine and rules like always.

She was beautiful, no doubt about it. And America wasn't just being nice, she's drop-dead gorgeous. And she knew it, because America happened to catch her winking at a staring Latvia and rolled her eyes when the poor little kid turned red and started malfunctioning. America frowned.

"Gi… I mean, _dude_! You didn't have 'ta mess with the poor guy, he's got enough problems." America whispered disapprovingly to his gleefully humming secretary. "I mean, come on. That's just mean."

"Why, sir," His secretary flipped her hair, and she grinned slyly "If he's doomed to an eternity with that Russian, then why not at least give him hope that a girl will one day notice him?"

America sighed, regretting this already, but the hero in him made him jump to Latvia's defense. "That's cruel, kiddo. Latvia's a good kid. Besides, I heard that he's getting along really great with Liechtenstein! I think they had tea last week!"

"Liechtenstein also had tea with an androgynous boy who can't shut up about what's art and what's not." Gigi pointed out dryly, and snorted in derision. "I don't think her standards are very high."

"You do know I can still ground you for what you did with Egypt and kick you outta the house for the week, right?"

"…Did I mention that I like her bow?"

Her usual wild, messy hair and braid were gone, _poof_ , since it wouldn't make her look 'professional enough'. So instead of a loose braid, America's partner now had her long black hair completely straightened, which now made it seem even longer as it passed her waist, along with her bangs, allowing a clearer view of her striking grey eyes, which appeared a bit slanted.

That, combined with her mischievous and mysterious smirk, almost made her look a little like a fox. Gigi _loved_ using this form… Maybe a teeny weensy bit too much, but… America supposed it's understandable that she would get tired of being a child every now and then… even though she was still a child (technically). This form was only the result of her magic.

"Alright, I know we've gone through this a million times already, but listen up, kiddo…" America told her quietly, quickly looking behind him to make sure not could overheard them, and he looked back at the smiling Gigi. "This isn't like the Congress meetings or the boss, every nation in the goddamn world is here! We can't risk having you guys exposed!"

"Don't you think I know that already?" Gigi hissed, looking genuinely hurt.

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean you'll play nice!" America hissed back, letting a bit of his scary side show.

Gigi grimaced, and growled a few words under her breath, nothing America hasn't heard before. She let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. I promise I'll be _nice_ to them."

"Yeah, that's real cool of you and all, but which definition of 'nice' are you using?" America asked anxiously.

Gigi laughed nervously as America gave her a scrutinizing stare. " _Well_ …"

"AMERICA!"

They both flinched at the familiar voice, and America felt a sense of dread and annoyance as he saw Gigi narrow her eyes in anger. England… great… just great… Perfect timing… He burst out in dry laughter. And he could already feel seething rage emanating from his secretary…

Just… _great_.

 **Here's to hoping that I won't take another year to upload chapter 4! Please review, if you have a minute.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews! Well, here's the long-awaited chapter, everybody! Yeah, I took months to get it out, but at least I didn't a year to do it... heh... so at least I came through with that. I hope this chapter is worth the wair for you guys. It might be a little uneventful, since this still serves to introduce characters and plot points, but there will be a lot more plot progression next chapter... which hopefully will come out sooner than this one did. Now, on with the show!**

Egypt, with his centuries worth of patience, did his best in trying to tune out Greece and Turkey's incessant bickering as he narrowed his eyes, and though this time instead of deafening shouts of childish insults it was annoying whispers of childish insults, it didn't make it much more tolerable. No, Egypt was not amused.

The departure of Maverick and 360 would have meant the end of it and Egypt and his fellow nations would have already gone off to America's house (which they were already late for) if an unusually but worryingly upset Greece had not vehemently insisted that they go back inside where the two intimidating soldiers were despite Cyprus and Turkey's objections and complaints respectively.

With quite a bit of difficulty, they had managed to drag him all the way to the parking lot and make him go in the car, where thankfully Greece practically gave up struggling.

"Egypt!" Turkey whispered, accidentally spitting saliva into Egypt's ear as he spoke, much to the latter's annoyance. "It's official. Crazy cat lady here finally lost it!"

"No, I have not!" Greece squawked indignantly.

"Yeah, you did!" Turkey squawked back, baring his teeth in an annoyed snarl. "I don't know what your deal is with this Maverick guy, but it's making you a nervous wreck!"

"O-Of course you wouldn't understand, you weren't there when he… You didn't see him…" Greece faltered, the color futher draining from his face."No, _none_ of you would understand."

"Heracles…" Cyprus began calmly. "Are you really sure that it's really him?"

"I… It has to be!" Greece insisted, appearing on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "He looks nearly exactly as I remember him. N-No, he hasn't changed a bit!

"Enough!" Egypt hissed, having had enough of the two's bickering for the day, and the two quickly fell silent. He looked at Greece calmly. "Heracles, please, what's wrong? Why does Maverick frighten you so much?"

Greece pressed his mouth, as if he didn't want any words to fly out of his mouth and he looked around as if Maverick or his partner might be hiding nearby. Egypt didn't know why he would think that, the two soldiers were at the airport for their 'business' there. It seemed unlikely they would be here watching them...

Said cause of Greece's terror along with the tall and the apparently mute fellow soldier 360 were busy speaking with a visibly terrified member of the airport staff. They knew that because Greece wanted to spy on them before they dragged him away before the soldiers could notice. The other humans weren't making much of a fuss over the sight of two armored members of the U.S. army, only giving quick nervous glances every now and then, and in fact seem to be making an effort to stay as far away from them as possible.

Very curious…

After he finished being paranoid, Greece turned to look back at Egypt with a conflicted expression before sighing and scratching the back of his head. "It was… during my Civil War, near the end of it to be exact. I was being held hostage by the insurgents, they were getting desperate… You know that I never quite explained how I was rescued, right?"

"Oh yeah… you never did…" Turkey remarked in realization, stroking his chin. "How come, olive breath?"

"I was basically sort of… intimidated or even into silence… to put it simply…" Greece explained slowly, and as he trailed off, he quickly glanced at his surroundings, as if scared that someone might be spying on them, before swallowing nervously. "P-Perhaps I shouldn't tell you…"

"Why? Cat got your tongue?" Turkey joked, rather insensitively too, sneering slightly.

Egypt was about to deliver a reprimand and perhaps a light smack on the Turk's head for his insensitivity, but Greece only made a disgruntled expression before continuing.

"I was _threatened_ into silence." Greece bit out, scowling, but there were traces of fear. "Naturally, I wasn't pleased, but Maverick swore that there were others were far more fearsome abilities. He advised me in good faith and for the sake of our camaraderie to at least keep many details to myself. I wasn't willing to risk making him angry, considering that- Oh, wait, I'm not supposed to tell you that either…

"Then why the hell are you telling us now, olive breath?" "

"There were a few times where I wanted to tell someone about it, but fear and **_something else_** kept holding me back." Greece admitted nervously, fiddling with his fingers. "I did manage to share some details with Cyprus though, including who, or who I _thought_ I knew Maverick was."

"And who was, or is, Maverick?" Egypt asked, cupping his chin with his hand.

"Maverick was… I-I mean _is_ a member of the military like he said, a very talented and lethal branch too. He said it's some sort of secret agency…" Greece said pensively, his hand on his chin as he tried to recall the details. "The other regular Americans soldiers seem to hold a lot of respect for him, even taking his orders without question. I could clearly see why, he's a very strong soldier, strong and… terrible."

"And how is it that none of us ever heard?" "Hell, how the hell did Russia not know about this?

Greece tensed even further at the question, and his gaze darted around uneasily. "I-I wasn't told much, but according to a very brief curt, with his tone very much implying that I shouldn't press, he has two or three 'brothers' who, according to him, 'took care' of that little issue…"

Egypt didn't quite like the sound of that. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "How exactly? And who are these 'brothers' of his?"

"Th-That's all he told me." Greece told them, and he glanced around once more. "C-Can we please get on with it?"

"B-But anyway, I was being held hostage at a camp w-when I heard gunshots and shouts in the distance..." Greece stuttered, returning to the main point. "The government army came to rescue me from the communists, so I was forcibly by the men guarding me to transport me to another location, and for a moment it seemed they were going to get away with it…"

"Then he came, and he rescued me. He appeared out of nowhere and without any warning, and then he struck." Greece's face became pensive. "Like…"

Greece trailed off, and then without warning he punched Turkey in the back of his head.

"You know, like that."

"What the hell, olive breath?!" Turkey squawked in indignation and pain, rubbing the back of his head, and he furious grabbed Greece by the collar. "You want a fight? Then how about l throw ya towards Maverick and 360 over there, let's see how happy they'll be to see ya! Maybe that way we'll see why he scares you so much!"

Usually whenever Turkey yelled threats at Greece, the latter would either grow annoyed or just have no visible reaction at all, but the very threat of accidentally harming the two soldiers, cause them minor annoyance and the possibility of them retaliating violently caused the color to drain from Greece's face. For the first in what felt like forever, Greece was frightened by Turkey's threats.

"C-Calm down, Turkey," Cyprus quickly went to try to dissuade Turkey once he saw Greece's expression. "Please continue, Heracles."

"You don't understand. None of you understand…" Greece muttered in fear and frustration, his expression becoming alarmingly pale. "No… of course you don't… you can't… none of you were there. None of you know him, so how could you even begin to comprehend…"

"Greece, again, please, take a deep breath and calm down," Egypt urged him, patting his friend's shoulder. "Now, when you feel calm enough again, continue with the story."

Greece thankfully did as he was told and took a deep breath, then after rubbing his eyes he prepared to continue. "Anyway, like I said… it looked like they were going to succeed but then something. It came without warning, like what I did with this stupid head… And… he rescued me, and made me swear to be quiet about what happened. But that's all that I will tell you."

Egypt blinked. Wait, what?

"What? That's it?" Turkey gawked, looking quite unimpressed. "I don't get it. So he rescued you in some kind of surprise way, what's so damn scary about that that's making you such a scaredy-cat, eh?"

Greece once again glared at him, though it didn't get rid of his uneasiness. "I told you, I was sworn into silence. I _can't_ tell any more beyond that."

"And part of _silence_ don't you understand, Herc?" A dry mechanical voice growled.

Egypt stiffened as he nearly suffered heart failure, not helped in any way by Turkey's feminine scream, and he was ready to unleash fire on whoever startled him. But when his head whipped around, he instantly froze when he was met with the masked face of Maverick, who was somehow leaning through the car window.

Greece made a sound that was either an odd gasp or a stifled scream. "Wh-What are _you_ doing here?"

"You forgot one of your cats, Herc," Maverick scoffed, raising his arms to reveal a small familiar cat lying in them.

"The crazy cat lady actually forgot one of his fleabags?" Turkey gawked, before snorting in direction of a stunned Greece. "Wow, you really are out of it."

Scowling, Egypt tightly pinched Turkey's ear for being insensitive again, ignoring the older man's yelp, and uneasily turned towards the soldier. "How did you open the window?"

"It was already open." Maverick flatly answered as if the question was utterly stupid, which Egypt was sure it wasn't. He's confident that the window had been closed, but it seemed the soldier wasn't willing to hear any arguments, "Thanks to that, I happened to listen in on your little conversation..."

"You were eavesdropping on us?" Cyprus asked.

"I wasn't going to tell them anything I wasn't supposed to, especially… _that!_ " Greece then exclaimed immediately after, appearing even more alarmed than before. Egypt truly hadn't seen him like this in… well, years. "And since you decided to show yourself in public, I…"

"I don't decided what I do, Herc. The nation does, and I follow my orders no matter what." Maverick coldly interrupted, leaning even closer. Egypt did not appreciate being closer to the man. "And you should have asked for permission to reveal any… details about me, or else risk the consequences for doing so."

"But-"

"…Luckily for you, the higher ups plus America decided that it's time to let the cat outta the bag… sort of. So, there'll be no delicious ultra-violence for you." Maverick almost sounded a little disappointed by that. "But I'll let you off with a warning, Herc. Inform anyone of what happened, and you'll deal with the consequences."

Greece, still noticeably pale and trembling, didn't say a word and merely nodded weakly. He did look relived after hearing he wouldn't be suffering through any consequences though.

"Remember, Herc. We have eyes and ears, people watching your every move." Maverick warned with that dry distorted voice of his, growling, "There's nowhere _any_ of you can hide, not in your countries, and especially not _here_."

"Hey, hey, what's with all the threats?!" Turkey demanded.

"Shut it. I don't like talking to those to religious nuts that take their peoples' freedom away like you," Maverick snarled at Turkey, not even bothering to see the man's reaction as he turned his back to them. "Besides, don't you foreigners have a meeting to get to?"

Egypt nearly stiffened, and he couldn't prevent a small groan from escaping his mouth.

"I-I think he's right," Cyprus spoke up, ever the reasonable one. "We should get going."

"Nice to hear there's someone else here with brain cells," Maverick chuckled darkly. "Well, there's no reason for me to stick around you foreigners. See you around, Herc."

Greece frowned weakly, and he managed a quiet farewell in his native language.

Then suddenly, his attention was directed to Egypt.

"As for _you_ and especially you, I'll give you a friendly warning since I'm feeling unusually _happy_ today, and it'll do you a lot of good if you listen." Maverick warned as he glanced back, speaking to Egypt in an almost mocking tone, and he drilled a finger into his temple. "Beware the one among us who's in chains. Stay away from that guy."

Absolutely bewildered at that nonsensical warning, Egypt opened his mouth to ask if he could be allowed to hear a clearer explanation, but the soldier promptly started walking away from the car, seemingly not interested in how Egypt would react.

Why has this day been so confusing and bizarre to him?

/ / / / /

"Howdy, Iggy! Nice to see ya, dude!" America greeted cheerfully at his former caretaker who was currently glaring murderously at him while his secretary did the same to said former caretaker. "What's up?"

He made sure to nudge Gigi the Fake Secretary's shoulder as soon as he finished saying that before England would notice the 'human' that's glaring at him with so much hate, it'd give France and Ireland a run for their money.

"What's up? I'll bloody tell you what's up, you wanker!" England huffed as he stomped towards America, looking really pissed off about something. "I've been looking for you for over twenty minutes! I need to discuss something of great importance with you!"

America was about to respond, but Gigi unexpectedly (or maybe completely _expectedly_ ) interjected. "Will it take long? Mr. America still needs to check with some nations and install his presentation for the meeting."

England flinched, as if he just noticed Gigi was there, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "And… who might you be?"

America tried not to tense. Here goes… Let's hope that Gigi will go with the script they planned.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I should introduce ya, Iggy!" America chirped, wrapping around Gigi's shoulders, much to her delight. "This is Mercy, she's my secretary! Not to mention my buddy! And I gotta say, she's the most awesome secretary _and_ assistant ever!"

Gigi giggled, and she almost managed _not_ to make it sound childlike. "Aw, Mister America, you're too kind."

" _You_ have a secretary?!" England squawked, as if the idea was preposterous.

Hey, what's wrong with him having a super cool secretary and assistant? Did England know how hard it was getting through a day of work?

"Rubbish! Since when did you get a secretary? You've never mentioned having one!"

America laughed uneasily and raised his hands in a calming gesture, needing to get this under control before any of them exploded. "Hey, hey, easy, Iggy. Mercy's been working here for a while now. I met her when she was fresh out of college, while I was looking for Tony's bubble machine. After we sat down for a nice long chat, I knew she was the perfect one for the job!"

'Mercy' beamed at the praise despite how she tried to hide it and that it was all part of her fake backstory. Whenever Alfred needed to bring Gigi for some important stuff or just didn't trust her enough to leave her to own devices, his buddy would use her powers to turn herself into an older version of herself and pose as his secretary, going by the name Mercy Proctor.

England didn't look like he believed him, and he scrutinized Gigi with suspicion. "Perfect for the job, you say?"

"Yep!" America chirped.

"Tell me, _how_ did you know she'd be perfect for the job as you say?" England asked as he regarded Gigi skeptically, as if he's waiting for her to do or say something stupid.

"Why, look at her, Iggy!" America flashed one of his famous sparkly grins and gestured towards the beaming Gigi. "She's top of her class, super smart, super sweet, politically neutral, _doesn't_ harbor an irrational hatred for _any_ president that'll make her go into a blood-crazed rage whenever they're mentioned, and she's really good at playing Call of Duty!"

But England looked less than impressed. Come on, dude, you're not making things any easier! The Brit scowled at Gigi. "How long have you been working for the wanker?"

Gigi's eye twitched, and America didn't waste any time in waving no with his hands frantically and mouthing the words 'don't do it' over and over again before his 'secretary' could summon of the baddies from Salem to wreak havoc. To his humongous relief, Gigi relaxed. Cool, looked like that stern-talking to did work after all!

"I've been working as Mr. America's secretary for three years." Gigi answered coolly, pushing up her glasses, and America would have deflated if he wasn't trying to keep it cool. "Like he said, I was just a college graduate then."

"Bollocks! You can't be any older than eighteen!" England squawked.

Gigi smiled slyly. "Oh, Mr. England, don't you know? A real lady never tells her _true_ age."

America stifled a guffaw. Okay, this was getting _kinda_ funny…

"Oh, hell with this. I'll deal with you later…" England snapped, and he turned his attention towards his ex-colony. "America, why the bloody hell did you give me the same room where the frog is staying? Do you have any idea how hard it is to be in the same room with the man who likes to run around with his balls exposed and his armpit hair in full view? DO YOU?!"

America gagged and pinched his nose at the _wonderful_ odor coming from England's breath. "Ugh, what did you eat for breakfast today, dude? Hot garbage?"

"I don't want to talk about it and don't change the subject! You need to give me the room farthest away from that wanker!"

"I'm sorry, but can't this wait until much later?" Gigi thankfully, or unthankfully depending if she really will come through with her promise, interjected, pushing up her specs. "I'm afraid Mr. America has much more pressing matters to attend to than to cater to the whims of a rude foreigner. If you want another room so badly, then go ask one of your fellow nations if they'd like to switch instead of wasting your host's time."

Boy, if looks could kill, Gigi would be a greasy stain on the floor. Too bad (or maybe it's a good thing) Gigi wasn't allowed break character and return England's glare with one that'd give him a run for his money. Now that would be kinda scary.

But to Iggy's credit, he cleared his throat and tried not to sound like a total jerk. "Pardon me, but I don't recall asking for your opinion, young lady. We are having a conversation. And it is rude to interrupt."

Emphasis on tried.

Gigi's eyes widened. Oh boy…

America laughed horribly, yeah, he's aware of how cringe-inducing it sounded too, and intervened before things could get ugly. "A-Actually, Mercy's totally right! I am super busy after all, so why don'tcha ask Mattie or someone else to switch with?"

"What?! Don't flee from the conversation, Alfred!

"Listen, I really gotta go-"

"BYE, IGGY!" America waved energetically goodbye as he pulled Gigi to England-free safety as the guy yelled in the distance.

"Alfie, that was really unnecessary." Gigi huffed in a bit of a childish manner. "I had this whole plan to help you escape the conversation AND humiliate him at the same time! Why did you have to do that?"

"Because I don't need you causing you any trouble, no matter how much you think people deserve it!" America whispered harshly, and he took another wary look around them for any possible eavesdroppers before he glared at Gigi disapprovingly. "Besides, I thought I made you promised that you'd behave yourself and be cool."

Gigi flushed and hugged her clipboard to her chest "But I am behaving myself, Alfred. If I wasn't, then that limey runt would be food for the monsters in Salem! Or maybe I would've donated his stupid carcass to Corvus for experimentation if he bothered you too much. Who knows? Maybe that would make him like me… "

America didn't even _want_ to think about what Corvus would do to England's stinky corpse. "Okay – First of all, there'll be no messed up experimentation while the whole gang's here. And second, remember that you're _still_ grounded. "

Flinching in fear, Gigi lowered her head and mumbled, "Sorry, Al…"

Good. And hey, speaking of Corvus, wasn't America forgetting something…?

Oh, yeah… That's right… He hasn't told her about the Warheads yet. Jeez, get your priorities straight, America!

"Buuuut… If it makes you feel any better, some of the Warheads _are_ gonna be here at the meeting."

America had to duck his head to hide his smile at seeing the look on Gigi's face.

/ / / / /

"Blimey, mate, your mozzies and other mates there are bloody ginormous!" Australia exclaimed in awe as he stared up close to all the bugs "They look so gnarly!"

The guy blinked at him and stared at him in this blank kind of way, kind of like Indonesia would sometimes do whenever Australia denied ever spying on her while she's bathing, "Thank you. I'd be careful, though. They bite."

His new friend here was a strange one, that's for sure. And by strange, Australia meant _awesome!_

He was dressed in an old WWII US Army officer uniform, but it was all dirty, smear and stained with some kind of stinky stuff. Australia had no idea what it was but it smelled pretty weird, like one of Kyle's farts. His hair was black and all wild like the how David Bowie had it in hat Labyrinth movie (awesome!), but somehow even wilder and longer. And for some reason, he's wearing a surgical mask.

There were some weird things on his face, like he's been bitten by poisonous bugs. Australia knew because he looked like that this one time he accidentally… Oh, and he's quite a shortie too! Like, even a little shorter than Japan. He even looked pretty young…

Australia's pretty sure he's Asian, East Asia probably (East was on one's right, right?). Despite having a medical mask that only left his slanted red eyes visible, he did look pretty Sheila-ish in his opinion. Australia sure thought he was a girl when he first saw him… The bloke didn't take very well when he mentioned that to his face. But Australia's sure he's over it now. He even introduced Australia to his mozzie friends!

But what really stood out about this bloke, and what Australia liked the most about this guy, was the cloud of flies swarming over his head. How sick was that? There were even other bugs following him! And the bloke didn't even seem to mind them, he didn't squirm away or anything. It's like they're his special friends!

"Why didn't they assign me to someone who's actually capable of shitting their pants?" Cool Asian-American Military Bloke muttered, which Australia fortunately didn't catch.

Australia glanced back at him with the same grin. "Huh' Whuzzat, mate?"

"Nothing, nothing at all..." Cool Asian-American Military Kid waved his hand dismissively, "I'm just… surprised how at ease you are around my companions."

"You kidding? I _love_ these little blokes." Australia grinned wide as he tried to befriend all the little things, all of whom looked just as baffled at his friendliness as the soldier was. "I got tons of different kinds of bugs and eight-legged cuties back home!"

"I've heard," Cool Asian-American Military Kid replied dully. Australia was about to go about the awesomeness of his cuties, but then he saw something crawl onto the top of the kid's head.

Australia gasped in awe, pressing his hands against his cheeks. "Whoa! You even have a wolf spider with you!"

The kid blinked, and he slowly raised his right hand and poked at the cute little critter clicking on top of his head. "Oh… you're right."

"I can't believe you've got one with you, mate! That a pet of yours? How come they let you bring one and I can't!"

"Yes, and safety precautions," Beelzebub answered bluntly while Australia playfully pocked and baby-talked the wolf spider, not noticing how the former's eye twitched.

"Awesome!" Australia beamed at the little fellow looking at him, about to reach his hand to pet the eight-legged cutie, when something suddenly hit him. God, how could he forget? He slapped himself for his bad manners and directed his smile back at the kid. "Oy, by the way, I don't think I ever asked your name, did I, mate?"

"You didn't." He agreed in what almost sounded like a deadpan tone, nodding.

Australia didn't catch it though, so he smiled and playfully punched him on the arm. "So? What's your name then?"

"…Beelzebub." He answered simply.

Australia scrunched his face up at the name, not because he found it weird, but because he thought it sounded familiar. When he finally got it, he " _Oh_ , like the bug demon thing from… uh… _Jewish_ stories, right?"

Beelzebub stared at him with blank eyes. "…Sure."

"Wow, that's pretty sick, mate!" Australia commented brightly, much to the soldier's bafflement, then stared curiously at something's that been bugging him for a while now. "And speaking of sick, what's with the maskie you have there? Caught a cold or something?"

Beelzebub made a weird expression, with both his eyebrows rising. "A cold is a _mild_ way to put it, Australia."

That made Australia frown in worry, "What do you mean? You caught something really awful?"

"It's not something that I _caught,_ per say," Beelzebub corrected while nonchalantly poking a centipede, his eyebrows furrowing. "Call it a… _condition_ that I've had since birth, one that happens to be very contagious. However… Ah, nevermind. The point is, for the good of humanity, I am required to take several precautions."

"Blimey. Must be one hell of a condition." Australia winced in sympathy. This kid's in serious need of some Kenny the Koala hugs.

"Yes, quite so…" Beelzebub said quietly as he lowered his head, sounding. "But I didn't come here so we could discuss about my… anomalous properties. Don't you- _we_ have a meeting to get to?"

Australia scrunched up his face, not sure what the kid meant by that, but then it hit him like that time a kangaroo threw a rock at him. He jumped, scared out of his wits, "Holy shit, you're right! I'm gonna be bloody late!"

"No shit, Sherlock." Beezebub rolled his eyes, and he stood up from his chair, straightening his jacket while the mozzies and crawlies started to follow him. "Shall we leave?"

"Sure thing, mate! Say, you never explained why you need to come with me, now that I think about it..."

Beelzebub stared at him for a long moment. "How is it possible that you haven't once been held hostage for ransom in your entire life?"

"Hey, that's what England always tells me!" Australia cracked up, and he clapped Beelzebub on the shoulder, oblivious to how the kid stiffened. "But don't worry about me, mate! I'm a tough one, comes from growing up in the outback!"

"It clearly hasn't taught you any street smarts…" Beelzebub mumbled, but Australia was too busy being Australia to hear.

Australia's grin widened even more and he increased, completely unaware of how the shorter one was rigid. "Aw, you're so nice, mate! But honestly though, I'm tough. Now let's go!"

"W-Wait.

But the kid never got the chance. Then he unintentionally yanked the kid along, pulling the confused and more importantly, angry, soldier out of the airport, with every single crawlie quickly following, scaring a whole lot of people in the process.

Australia grinned when they ran out the doors, unaware of how the kid he's dragging was glaring daggers at him, and was all ready to march to his ride with his new bug-loving friend in tow when he caught something move in the corner of his eye.

"Ooh! Look, Bee, a squirrel! Let's go eat it!"

Beelzebub's glare was _murderous_. " _What_ did **_you_** just call me?"

But Australia was now entirely focused on the squirrel, and promptly he started pulling the pest soldier away. "Come on, mate, let's go catch us some squirrel meat."

"Oh?" Beelzebub suddenly yanked his hand out of Australia's grip, to the latter's suprise, and snickered. "In that case, there's no need for you to soil your sweaty, dung-smelling hands. Leave it to me."

Australia turned around and blinked at him, confused. "Huh?"

Beelzebub stared at him all coldly, kind of like how that jerk North Korea did with everyone, and put his hands behind his back while he glanced at the merry group of insects and all sorts of creepy crawlies following him. "Watch."

The kid nodded at them, and just like that, after a split second, Australia watch in shock as every single crawly came storming towards the poor critter in a unbelievable fury, clicking and hissing all the while. The squirrel was just minding his own business munching on what's probably an acorn when he noticed the swarm of crawlies coming for him.

The poor little thing got the message that they're out to get him, and he made terrified chattering as he tried to make a break for it, but the dragonflies along with other oversized winged crawlies fly straight to its face. The squirrel cried as its head was completely covered by the fliers, then not even a few seconds later and the rest of the bugs and spiders completely overwhelmed him

Australia watched all this with his mouth hanging open in horror.

This… This was seriously messed up. He could hardly believe he's seeing this– seeing a bunch of insects and other crawlies gang up on a squirrel. And – And he couldn't stand here. He should- His normal reaction would be to tell Beelzebub to knock it off with whatever he's doing, however the hell's he's doing it, but…

But for some really weird reason, Australia didn't feel anything close to horror or even nausea at this. He couldn't even tear his eyes away from this sudden horror show. He–

He grunted in pain, feeling a ringing in his ears and a weird pain in his brain, and he grasped his head. What the–

"That's enough," Beelzebub suddenly said, and Australia snapped back to attention.

For some reason, all the creepy-crawlies obeyed and they scattered away from where the squirrel was… and Australia's eyes widened.

Right there, where the squirrel should have been, was a messy gooey pile of small bones.

Australia could do nothing but stare. What the heck just happened? Next to him, Beelzebub cleared his throat.

"Now then…" Beelzebub wiped his gloved hands, and looked at Australia blankly. "If there will be no further distractions, can we go now?"

/ / / / /

While Gigi wasn't exactly happy over her current predicament, she'll admit that she was happy that she's able to play secretary again.

People tend to take her a lot more seriously when she looked more like an adult, and not write her off as just a bratty kid or a creepy little girl with anger issues.

But she'll be really honest here. She didn't feel completely comfortable in this form. It… Well, to put it briefly, it brought bad memories bad to the surface, the kind Gigi would much rather forget. It's fun, but after a long while, she'll start to feel real uneasy. And it didn't help that there were quite a few skirt-chasers among the nations like France. She wasn't sure if she'll be able to handle keeping her composure.

Sure, she still did want to kill those pesky nations, but she'll get to that! Well, _eventually_. But Gigi had every intention of making it up to America for disappointing him, and if the only way (for now) to help not see her like that was to 'get along' with these morons and psychopaths, then... she'll do it.

Gah, it's not like she meant to vanish for that long! Things kind of got more complicated than she thought they'd be and she ended up getting seen by Maverick, that frustrating twat (then again, the Warheads were all frustrating twats) and that big brute Nemesis. She didn't mean it for to happen, gosh darn it!

Although, what negativity she was feeling was nothing compared to the sheer range of negative emotions that flared inside of her once she heard some news America brought.

"You know, some of the Warheads _are_ gonna be here at the meeting," America suddenly announced off-handedly.

If Gigi had been drinking a cup of something, preferably hot chocolate since she really needed something to put herself in a more tolerant mood, she would've done a spit-take, hopefully all over one of those Middle Easterners. But she couldn't have nice things.

She shook her head and gaped at him in shock, horribly breaking out of her character. " _WHAT?_ "

Gigi saw her brother figure wince just as she realized her little slip-up, and she slapped

America winced and looked around in alarm to see if anyone was around or snooping, but once he remembered that they were _alone_ in this hallway, he turned back to her and spoke the first Warhead's name in a quieter voice.

"Well, Corvus is gonna be here." "You know, in case something.

Gigi tried not to wince at being told that that _dreadful_ plague doctor was going to be here. Why? Why did God hate her so?

No… No, no, no, she's not going to whine. She's going to prove to America that he could trust her to be mature, so that he'll later that her opinions _did_ have merit. It's

"Freedom, huh?" Gigi felt the corners of her mouth curl up in a gleeful smile, and he held back the urge to clap her hands and giggle in excitement as she normally did. "Perfect. With Freedom at the meeting, we'll find the impudent moron who's behind the security breach in no time."

Sure, Freedom will probably cause her no end of trouble now that they'll be under the same roof together for a while, but Gigi's trying to suppress the knowledge of that fact

"Exactly!" America said happily, to which Gigi was grateful to hear instead of receiving a wary glance.

"Great, great…" Gigi nodded happily, feeling better about this whole deal already. "So! Who else is going to be here, Al?"

"Point Blank."

Gigi's smile fell at the name, and she's pretty sure she felt at least half of her happiness die. "Point Blank? Did you say Point Blank?"

Okay… He's… not the _worst_ option. But of course at the same, he's absolutely horrible! He's a nightmare to be around, although the title of living nightmare was probably better suited for either Shiva or even Justice. Gigi could stand the little mediocre dunce as much as he could 'stand' her. Out of all the agents, he's one of the ones who hate her the most.

And he's also the best (and most annoying and disrespectful) bodyguard or just guard in general that anyone can find. So, OF COURSE they picked the little twat. Gigi unknowingly growled to herself, and she angrily fisted her beautiful hair.

Unbeknownst to her, America was looking at her like she suddenly spewed out fire. "Uh… Gigi?"

"Yes, Alfie?" Gigi responded with a sickly sweet tone, putting all her effort into keeping the smile on her face.

"Why are you smiling like a Stepford Wife?" America asked warily, looking genuinely creeped out.

The innocent question was like an arrow piercing her chest, and it caused Gigi to squeak in horror and embarrassment. Oh, she just couldn't pretend around him. She couldn't bear lie to him in any way… well, most of the time, but it's for the greater good of him and this country!

Now sporting a nervous expression, Gigi pushed up her glasses as she slightly fumbled over her words, "S-Sorry. It's just… I can't stand him. I just can't. Not even a little."

"You know, it could've been worse." America pointed out with a smile that Gigi couldn't quite figure out.

"I know it could've been way worse, but that still doesn't make it better!" Gigi wailed, wanting to just throw herself. Not giving a damn at how it might look with her looking like a grown woman. "Why do you have to do this to me, Alfie? You know how rude that jerk is. He'll make me miserable throughout this whole thing for sure!

"Hey! You're the one who's always harpin' about doing messed up stuff for my sake." America retorted back at her, frowning slightly.

Gigi stiffened, and she barely held back the urge to groan. God darn it, she hated it when her own _sensible_ words are used against her. "You know what? Forget it. Who else do I have to watch out for?"

"The Ripper."

Gigi felt her glee abruptly evaporate as she stumbled back in horror hearing _that_ one's name, dropping her clipboard. "W-Wh… The… _The Ripper?_ Are you kidding me, Al? You don't want me going around causing trouble but you're bringing _the Ripper_ to this meeting?"

"Hey, Captain Millar's gonna be with him." America added in a reassuring manner and smile, and Gigi whimpered at the mention of that soldier's code name. As if _he_ could hold back the Ripper. "Rhabdophobia's too busy working with the CIA and the FBI to come over, so he's… pretty much unavailable."

"Unavailable?!" Of course, leave it to that gleeful twat to be absent when he's needed. Gigi growled, "And your government still insisted on bringing him here? They're insane! Like, mentally retarded on crackpot insane! And do they seriously think that that mopey moron is gonna be enough to keep the Ripper in line?"

"Hey, come on! Flag's good."

"As good as England is at remaining sober!"

"Gigi, I know this sounds nuts," She wanted to yell that 'nuts' would be a huge understatement, but she forced herself to keep her mouth shut. "Besides, he's mostly gonna be there as an intimidation tactic. Maybe find a way for him to show off his talents so the enemy could see what they're really dealing with, you know?"

"An intimidation tactic, huh?" Gigi liked the sound of that. She smirked, restraining the urge to giggle. "Oh, they'll be intimated alright. Once one of them inevitably tries to hurt you, the Ripper won't hesitate to run up to them and rip their-"

"That's not the point!" America hissed urgently, once more shooting a wary look around before narrowing his eyes. "The main point of this is that hopefully, this'll scare the culprit into outing themselves in the unlikely scenario Freedom can't detect them."

Gigi wanted to snort at the idea. There are very few things Freedom couldn't detect or twist, but she seriously doubted that those things were among the nations. She kept this herself, however, as she could respect, and she really wanted this discussion over and done with.

"No Shiva?" Gigi raised an eyebrow with a dark smile. Now _he_ could cause quite a ruckus.

Gigi _hated_ how America snapped his gaze toward her looking absolutely appalled by the notion. "Wh-What? No! _No!_ Shiva? _Shiva_ at the World Meeting? Golly, I wouldn't!"

She sweatdropped at the reaction, and Gigi began to feel overwhelmed with guilt for even asking, as much as she didn't like how America reacted to _him_. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Alfred. I didn't actually mean-"

"I know, I know. It's just…" America scratched his head, averting his gaze, "It's no laughing matter, y'know?"

"What do you have to worry about? He's _your_ soldier. Your wish is his command." As it should be, Gigi thought confidently. Her hands tightened around her clipboard. "If anything, I'm the who should be terrified."

"Nope, that's everyone as far as I know," America shook his head with a small smile, "Everyone else's either abroad or busy with something else."

Gigi pressed her mouth in a thin line and said nothing to that. Oh, great. First George's being even more of an old senile

And now the whole agency's involved in this mess. It took Gigi almost as much self-restraint as she used back there to just cry for once in her life. Why them? How the heck was she supposed to operate and be with America with them around? She'll be a mess! And Gigi didn't have any doubt that the Warheads would love to see that happen.

This'll put a damper on her plans, no doubt. But Gigi's not going to give up just yet! Not of _all_ the boys hated her… Well, fine, every single of them did hate her, even nice ones like Guardian or Oblivion didn't like her very much, but they won't be vengeful… maybe… hopefully.

"Oh, I can't _believe_ I'm going to be stuck with them for a whole day!" Gigi groaned in despair, and in a moment of letting the child in herself get the better of her, she dropped her things and threw herself onto a surprised America. "This is going to be a nightmare! A nightmare!"

"Aw, come on, Gi. Be positive!" America encouraged her all to happily, which would've delighted Gigi if the circumstances were different, "I'm sure it won't be that bad."

"For you, maybe," Gigi snifled, her hands gripping America's jacket. "I'm doomed! Doomed!"

While she sobbed into America's shoulder, the blonde merely smiled and patted her head. "Oh, relax, kiddo. It'll all be okay. And look at it this way, being with the Warheads could count as your punishment too!"

"Th-That's not helping me feel better, Alfred!" Gigi cried out.

"Great. It's not supposed to!" America responded cheerfully, too cheerfully.

" _Why_ can't you be as cruel to the other nations as you're being with me?!

/ / / / /

Talking with Germany was quite pleasant in George's opinion.

Or, well, whenever he actually managed to speak with the man without Prussia interrupting with an amusing remark to be more specific, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

"So, what you're saying is… you work for America?" Germany asked slowly, seeming skeptical of the idea.

George didn't mind the nation's tone, and he nodded with his usual smile, "That's correct. For several years, I've been working for Mr. America and helping him out however I can."

Germany appeared to grunt in understand "Oh. I imagine it must hard for you."

"Oh no, not at all," George assured him with a pleasant smile and a wave of his hand, "I assure you that I have been treated well by Mr. America and I've had nothing short of enjoyment and satisfaction serving the personification of my country. It's truly a pleasure to be working for him. As hard as it might be for you to believe, he is a very good boss."

As well as good friend, and the best surrogate son he could ever ask for, but George's not too sure if he should be revealing more personal details. For now, he will play the part of the assistant of America, gladly helping him in every way he could just as he did for these past centuries.

"Ja, come on, _bruder_! Quit assuming the vorst!" Prussia cackled, cheerfully slapping his brother in the shoulder, much to the latter's annoyance. "If anyone will have a hard time working for anyone, it'd be _you_ with your uptightness, West!

Germany glared at his albino-haired brother, "Really? _This_ coming from the dumkopf who won't shut up about how 'awesome' he is?"

"Now, now, there's no need to break into another argument." George chuckled, raising his hands in a calming gesture. "The point is that I am happy with my job, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Even with Gigi's troubling behavior and America's constant stress, in the end George liked to think that they were all a family. He hoped that one day, all of their problems will be solved and things will turn out for the best.

Germany's frown deepened for reasons George couldn't quite decipher, and he looked at him again. "If I may ask, how come we've never heard of you?"

Ah. George had been anticipating that question at some point from any nation that he might come across. Thankfully, he already had a good enough answer.

"Well Mr. Germany, neither America and I have ever thought there was any need to inform every nation that he had an assistant," George informed him in a more serious manner "Also, America withheld information for the sake for my personal safety so that I won't ever be targeted by those who'd want to gain information to use against him."

Neither of those two were exactly lies, really. There wasn't any obligation for America to inform any nation that he had someone helping him with his work. And the reason George, Gigi and the others have remained hidden and unknown from the world at large was not only for their own safety,

Not that the Warheads needed any protection though…

George had no absolutely no shame nor remorse in admitting that he was entirely loyal to America and the country itself. And he won't hide that loyalty, despite how other nations might react to him, a 'human', being completely loyal to one like America. But if they think that they could wrangle any meaningful information about America out of him, then George will gladly prove them wrong.

Germany's face appeared to soften in understanding, and George could the distrust leaving his face. Good. He's glad to see that he understood their reasons, even though Germany didn't know the entire story.

"I see…" Germany muttered. "Well, I guess that's understandable."

"Ja, very understandable. There's tons of unawesome bastards who'd want to get dirt on Al," "But whatever. Where's Alfred's diary, Awesome Specs? I'll send you a pint of awesome beer if jou tell me where it is."

George couldn't help but guffaw at that. Oh, Prussia really did know how to crack a joke.

"Bruder, you are not going to read anyone's diary," Germany growl exasperatedly, before his features creased into a scowl. "Moreover, you're undergoing punishment for blowing up the UN Building!"

"Oh, come on! So what if I blew up that unawesome building?"

"So what?! You-"

George would've been more than content to watch the brothers engage in their usual charming bickering, but he unfortunately made the mistake of forgetting the situation looming over him and the other residents of America's house. And so, he was startled, flinched, when the door of the room suddenly swung open.

He was immediately greeted with the sight of the new arrival in the room, and the bespectacled man's eyes widened.

It was a familiar figure, one he happened well acquainted with. The complete details were not his to share, but he could describe what could be seen on the outside. It was a soldier equipped in unusual armor, very customized and complicated, most strikingly were the dark mask and glowing blue goggles on them completely covering his face made out of hard material.

"You," George said coolly, straightening himself up.

"Me," The soldier agreed a, something he shared in common with his brothers.

"Hey, who the hell are you?" Prussia asked a bit too rudely, eyeing the new arrival warily. "Jou know this guy, Awesome Specs?"

"I do." George admitted calmly, and he turned towards the new arrival warily. "Except I wasn't quite expecting him to show… so _soon_."

 _Too_ soon.

"Of course, I should've known _you_ would be one of the Warheads ordered to come here," George smiled politely in spite of it all as he formed his hands into fists. "Your talent as a bodyguard, tracker and a point man is truly most impressive. I dare say you excel in those tasks more than any of the other Warheads!"

"Oh George, even when you're pissed, you never fail to flatter the hell out of people," The solider chuckled dryly, spreading out his arms.

"To say I'm, ahem, 'pissed' would be an overstatement, Point Blank." George answered evenly, though feeling slightly uncomfortable at using inappropriate language. "I'm merely surprised to see that you seemingly came here to greet me."

He glanced at the Germany brothers for a brief second, not forgetting that he and Point Blank were the only ones in the room. Oh dear, how should he explain this to them…?

"Alright, hold on a minute!" Germany barked, stepping in between George and the soldier. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you?"

Georgia inhaled in sharply. Well, he supposed he could start with introductions. It was as good as a start as any.

"Germany, Prussia, allow me to introduce you." George announced clearly, and he gestured towards the soldier. "This here goes by the codename Point Blank. And he will be responsible for the safety of every guest here."

 **Yeah, I know this last part was a little more rushed than the others, but I just wanted to get this published already. Still, I hope it wasn't too bad, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Now then, fingers crossed that the next one won't take like three or four months. Please review!**


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